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May 4, 2024

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Inside the Microbiome

Tom Schoenfeld, vice president of Wisconsin-based biotech company Lucigen, is also something of a bio-prospector. In collaboration with UNLV associate professor and microbial ecologist Brian Hedlund, Schoenfeld hunts hot springs for "extremophiles"—bacteria, archaea and viruses that live in extreme conditions and contain enzymes with special properties that have potential applications in everything from renewable energy to medical and forensic diagnostics. That means getting dangerously close to dangerously hot water.