NASA discovers unique new life form

Arsenic-munching germ redefines "life as we know it"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A strange, salty lake in California has yielded an equally strange bacterium that thrives on arsenic and redefines life as we know it, researchers reported Thursday.

The bacteria do not merely eat arsenic -- they incorporate the toxic element directly into their DNA, the researchers said.

The finding shows just how little scientists know about the variety of life forms on Earth, and may greatly expand where they should be looking for life on other planets and moons, the NASA-funded team said.

"Life as we know it requires particular chemical elements and excludes others," Ariel Anbar of Arizona State University said in a statement.

"But are those the only options? How different could life be?"

The study, published in the journal Science, demonstrates that one of the most notorious poisons on Earth can also be the very stuff of life for some creatures.

Anbar, Felisa Wolfe-Simon of the NASA Astrobiology Institute and colleagues found the strain of Halomonadaceae in California's Mono Lake, formed in a volcanic region and very dense in minerals, including arsenic.

The lake is teeming with life, but not fish. It also contains the bacteria.

Click image to see photos of Mono Lake



Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

"Life is mostly composed of the elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and phosphorus," the researchers write in Science.

These six elements make up the nucleic acids -- the A, C, T and G of DNA -- as well as proteins and lipids. But there is no reason in theory why other elements should not be used. It is just that science never found anything alive that used them.

The researchers grew microbes from the lake in water loaded with arsenic, and only containing a little bit of phosphorus.

The GFAJ-1 strain of the Halomonadaceae grew when arsenic was in the water and when phosphorus was in the water, but not when both were taken away.

"This organism has dual capability," Paul Davies of NASA and Arizona State said in a statement.

"It can grow with either phosphorous or arsenic. That makes it very peculiar, though it falls short of being some form of truly 'alien' life belonging to a different tree of life with a separate origin."

But it does suggest that astrobiologists looking for life on other planets do not need to look only for planets with the same balance of elements as Earth has.

"Our findings are a reminder that life-as-we-know-it could be much more flexible than we generally assume or can imagine," said Wolfe-Simon.

"If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected, what else can life do that we haven't seen yet? Now is the time to find out."

(Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Philip Barbara)

That's just overwhelming to think about. Every "definition" of finding for life just got scrapped, and now we have an infinitive amount of planets that we have to back track lol. Truly a break through.

Totally bringing this up in science today. Pretty sure we aren't doing life science or whatever but who cares.

Amazing news, brb re-writing textbooks.

Man, I love nature. I hope our professor mentions this today in class.

Wait, so does this organism still depend on water to live?

[COLOR="Magenta"]I'm angry because the scientist talking about this is from ASU.

Otherwise, yay, now we can clear our contaminated water supplies with said bacteria.[/COLOR]

Pretty sure it still needs water to live.

[COLOR="Magenta"]I'm angry because the scientist talking about this is from ASU.
[/COLOR]

UA?!

More detailed article here:


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...140622.htm



Really amazing stuff.

Wait, so does this organism still depend on water to live?

Their interiors are still composed of water, because the cell still needs a solvent where metabolic reactions can take place.

I'm amazed.

I for one welcome our new arsenic overlords

i thought this was cool. but i think the factor still remains that water = life. so we may not need to entirely back track on all the planets we skipped.

Um...the definition of life was only so limited to those who aren't into science fiction. SF has been asking the question of how life might differ for other beings (such as beings made purely of energy) for decades. I'm a bit pissed at how this is being presented, honestly. It's a huge slap inthe face to science fiction.

Um...the definition of life was only so limited to those who aren't into science fiction. SF has been asking the question of how life might differ for other beings (such as beings made purely of energy) for decades. I'm a bit pissed at how this is being presented, honestly. It's a huge slap inthe face to science fiction.

I agree with this sort of but not fully. I find it funny how humans think they actually have anything figured out.

inb4ballonthingsinjupiter.

Pretty sick news... completely redefines everything we came to know but hell were always discovering news lifeforms here anyways.

They also believed no life form could survive at the Mariana Trench, but they were wrong. So I can't really say I didn't expect this.

It's just that most people always think that there's these advanced cyborg-aliens flying with huge ass spaceships in our neighborhood.

Otherwise, yay, now we can clear our contaminated water supplies with said bacteria.

Except if the lakes aren't contaminated with arsenic...

lol

lol

Irony.