'Really Unique' Amoeba Thrives in California's Hot Springs

An amoeba that shrugs off heat that would wreck most complex cells has turned up in a California national park. Syracuse University researchers say the microbe, dubbed the "fire amoeba," can grow at 145 degrees Fahrenheit and survive blasts up to 158 degrees, pushing past what scientists thought was the cutoff for so-called eukaryotic life—organisms with membrane-bound cell structures like our own, per Gizmodo. Collected from geothermal steam in Lassen Volcanic National Park between 2023 and 2025, Incendiamoeba cascadensis was seen dividing normally at 145 degrees and shielding itself by changing shape and forming a protective coat at hotter temperatures, according to findings published Tuesday in Cell.

"We knew pretty quickly that we had this really unique and amazing organism," says study co-author Angela Oliverio, per the New York Times. Genetic analysis suggests the amoeba ramps up systems that protect cell structures, repair DNA, and stabilize proteins under extreme heat, using tricks similar to those seen in tough-as-nails bacteria, per Gizmodo. Oliverio says the amoeba is likely not alone, and the team is now hunting for it—and its relatives—in other hot-spring systems to see how many more rule-breaking microbes are out there.