Let’s say you’ve discovered a new bacterium or archaea and want to give it a name so that it can be classified and placed on the appropriate branch of the tree of life. According to the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP), the community of scientists that decides how to handle the naming of bacteria and other prokaryotes, there are a few steps you need to take before you can designate it a name according to the International Code of Nomenclature for Prokaryotes (ICNP). Chief among those steps is successfully culturing your new organism and sending it to at least two separate collections, which must be located in different countries, for storage.
Unfortunately, that remains impossible for the vast majority of prokaryotic life on Earth. Most are what microbiologists call “fastidious organisms,” meaning that their nutritional or environmental requirements are complex or extremely particular, making it difficult, if not ...
