Living Mega-cells Found in Mariana Trench

A team of biologists from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography conducted an expedition into the depths of the Mariana Trench (more than 10,500 m below sea level) and discovered gigantic single-celled amoebas called xenophyophores. These amoebas had never been seen below 7,500 meters. They have been known to be one of the largest cells, with an average diameter of about 10 centimeter. They act as hosts for different organisms, and absorb heavy metals such as lead, uranium, and mercury. Aside from this surprising discovery, they also found the deepest jellyfish observed to date.

"The identification of these gigantic cells in one of the deepest marine environments on the planet opens up a whole new habitat for further study of biodiversity, biotechnological potential and extreme environment adaptation," said Dour Bartlett, Scripps' marine microbiologist and organizer of the expedition.

Watch the footage of the expedition at http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-10/25/xenophyophores-deep-sea