# Penny Chisholm: The tiny creature that secretly powers the planet

Oceanographer Penny Chisholm tells the story of a tiny ocean creature you've probably never heard of: Prochlorococcus, the most abundant photosynthetic species on the planet. A marine microbe that has existed for billions of years, Prochlorococcus wasn't discovered until the mid-1980s — but its ancient genetic code may hold clues to how we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2018
- By: TED.com
- Genres: Education, Science, Nature, Space
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/PennyChisholm_2018)
- Licence or status: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (as the archive states it)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/PennyChisholm_2018?play=1)