Presumably it did not spring into existence fully-formed in a clean room in the last hundred years. So, it must be able to live in other conditions but at population levels that are virtually undetectable.
That's the mind-blowing thing for me about this article. The idea is that it can't compete with other organisms out in the wild. Out in the wild, other organisms reproduce too quickly, are too aggressive, devour these bacteria, etc. But these bacteria have something that allows them to survive in a clean room's extreme environment, something that kills off other more competitive organisms. This is the very definition of niche.
They think there's a possibility it only lives in clean rooms? Am I missing something, or does that seem very unlikely?