For those who have seen accounts of Red Rain on Secrets of Space or other science programs, I have discovered an article from the journal Microbiology ( ) in which the authors have found a way of identifying the presence of DNA in the heart of these red cell that fell as red rain in Kerala, South India over a period of several months in 2001. Here is the conclusion of the authors of this highly technical article: "We report results showing the location of a red pigment in the external layers of red rain cells and its apparent role in the impermeability to various staining reagents, including DAPI. We also show that extraction of this pigment from Phase contrast CFP ET-DsRed GFP YFP Fig. 3. Phase-contrast micrographs of red rain cells suspended in DMSO and their corresponding fluorescence emission under excitation filters [cyan fluorescent protein (CFP), ET-DsRed, GFP and yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)]. The arrow points (see Article for photos) to cells surrounded by invisible matrix, which appears to be their leaked inner contents fluorescing under all excitation filters....the outer layer with DMSO enhances the permeability of red rain cells to chemical stains, allowing positive DAPI staining, indicating the presence of DNA in the central core. Results based on polarizing microscopy indicate the crystalline nature of the red pigment in the peripheral layers. It is also evident that the removal of red pigment allows these cells to fluoresce at a wide range of excitation wavelengths, whilst untreated cells are completely refractive. Although the nature of the red compounds is still uncertain, it is clear from this investigation that these compounds firmly intercalate deep into the thick outer layers of these cells, which may facilitate resistance to hostile environments. The results presented here do not make the origin of the red rain cells of Kerala any clearer, but do clearly indicate the presence of DNA, and offer an explanation for the negative staining results reported by Louis & Kumar (2006). It is possible that these red cells arrived on earth via space dust from space missions, or from meteorites. What do you think? For article see the following: Microbiology Society Journals is inviting submissions of research papers and reviews that explore topics surrounding archaea for a new thematic collection. MICROBIOLOGYRESEARCH.ORG