Prochlorococcus
A tiny ocean cell that quietly turns sunlight into oxygen and biomass, becoming one of the planet's hidden power plants.
Visual Provenance
This electron micrograph reveals the organism responsible for 20% of Earth's oxygen. The choice of a high-magnification image highlights the paradox of scale: the smallest photosynthetic cell is the most powerful solar engine on the planet. The visual emphasizes its simple, spherical form—minimalist biology optimized for global impact.
The Invisible Lung
For over a century, oceanographers studied the sea by pouring water through filters. The standard mesh size was 1 micrometer (0.001mm). They assumed anything smaller than that was just debris or viruses, not "life" capable of photosynthesis. They were wrong. In 1988, researchers Sallie Chisholm and Robert Olson took a flow cytometer (a laser-based cell counter usually used for blood work) onto a ship in the Sargasso Sea. When they looked at the scatter plots, they saw a "noise" signal of tiny, dim red flashes. It wasn't noise. It was Prochlorococcus—a cell so small (0.6 micrometers) it had been slipping through the nets of science for generations. We suddenly realized we had missed the most abundant phytoplankton on Earth. The discovery shows how our tools shape what we can see. By using new technology, we found that the ocean is filled with life we never knew existed.
Great Oxidation Event
Prochlorococcus
First Prochlorococcus genome published
Great Oxidation Event
Prochlorococcus
First Prochlorococcus genome published
Prochlorococcus
The smallest photosynthetic organism on Earth is also its most abundant. These tiny cells, invisible to the naked eye, float in the open ocean by the octillion, generating 20% of the oxygen we breathe.
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The Minimalist Engine
Prochlorococcus is a master of efficiency. At 0.6 micrometers, it is smaller than most bacteria, yet it performs photosynthesis—the process that converts sunlight into chemical energy. It has stripped its genome down to the bare essentials, keeping only the genes needed to survive in the nutrient-poor open ocean. This minimalism allows it to reproduce quickly and dominate vast areas of the ocean. Despite its tiny size, Prochlorococcus is responsible for producing about 20% of the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere. It shows that size is not always correlated with impact—the smallest organisms can have the largest effects on the planet.
Artifact Profile
The Entry Point of Solar Energy
Prochlorococcus represents the entry point of solar energy into the marine food web. Every day, these tiny cells capture photons from the Sun and convert them into chemical energy through photosynthesis. This energy flows up through the food chain, powering everything from zooplankton to whales. Without Prochlorococcus, the ocean would be a desert, unable to support the vast diversity of marine life. The organism connects the energy of the Sun to the life of the ocean. It shows how the light that began in the recombination epoch is still being captured and transformed, billions of years later, by the smallest forms of life.
Prochlorococcus Hoodie
Own a piece of history. Premium heavyweight cotton hoodie featuring the Prochlorococcus artifact.
View Design
Data Source: The Human Archives
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