New life form found on Earth

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(PhysOrg.com) -- Evidence that the toxic element arsenic can replace the essential nutrient phosphorus in biomolecules of a naturally occurring bacterium expands the scope of the search for life beyond Earth, according to Arizona State University scientists who are part of a NASA-funded research team reporting findings in the Dec. 2 online Science Express.

It is well established that all known life requires phosphorus, usually in the form of inorganic phosphate.

...

"We took what we do know about the 'constants' in biology, specifically that life requires the six elements CHNOPS (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur) in three components, namely DNA, proteins and fats, and used that as a basis to ask experimentally testable hypotheses even here on Earth."

...

The latest discovery is all about a bacterium – strain GFAJ-1 of the Halomonadaceae family of Gammaproteobacteria – scooped from sediments of eastern California's Mono Lake, which is extremely salty with naturally high levels of arsenic.

In the laboratory, the researchers successfully grew microbes from the lake on a diet that was very lean on phosphorus, but included generous helpings of arsenic.

Key issues that the researchers needed to address were the levels of arsenic and phosphorus in the experiments and whether arsenic actually became incorporated into the organisms' vital biochemical machinery, such as DNA, proteins and the cell membranes. A variety of sophisticated laboratory techniques was used to nail down where the arsenic went, including mass spectrometry measurements by Gordon at the W.M. Keck Foundation Laboratory for Environmental Biogeochemistry at ASU.

Commenting on the significance of the discovery, Davies says: "This organism has dual capability. 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. However, GFAJ-1 may be a pointer to even weirder organisms. The holy grail would be a microbe that contained no phosphorus at all."

Davies predicts that the new organism "is surely the tip of a big iceberg, and so has the potential to open up a whole new domain of microbiology."

It is not only scientists, however, who will be interested in this discovery. "Our findings are a reminder that life-as-we-know-it could be much more flexible than we generally assume or can imagine," says Wolfe-Simon, noting that because microbes are major drivers of biogeochemical cycles and disease this study may open up a whole new chapter in biology textbooks.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-nasa-discovery-element-life.html

[JohnSmith2007 353]

Life has been shown to be more adaptable than we ever imagined. The idea that we are alone in the universe is pretty much over. I bet we will find some sort of life on other planets once we are able to look beyond our own planet. I look forward to the day when people explore Mars. I have no doubt they will find present or past life there.

[JohnSmith2007 353]

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What if life exists in forms we don't even recognize?

What if natural things we consider inanimate are actually alive, but in ways we don't consider alive? What if rocks are alive?

[LaL 418]

What if life exists in forms we don't even recognize?

What if natural things we consider inanimate are actually alive, but in ways we don't consider alive? What if rocks are alive?

::head explodey::

[JohnSmith2007 353]

What if life exists in forms we don't even recognize?

What if natural things we consider inanimate are actually alive, but in ways we don't consider alive? What if rocks are alive?

Like this?

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::head explodey::

Maybe the older faiths like those practiced by the indigenous peoples of America had it right when they considered the planet and the land to have its own life force.

Like this?

Contemporary western science would tell you the rock is not alive but the algae is. (BTW I'm responding based on the image URL i can't actually see the image right now.)

I'm suggesting maybe the rock is alive as well and what we really have there is a symbiotic relationship between two types of life.

[LaL 418]

Maybe the older faiths like those practiced by the indigenous peoples of America had it right when they considered the planet and the land to have its own life force.

Contemporary western science would tell you the rock is not alive but the algae is. (BTW I'm responding based on the image URL i can't actually see the image right now.)

I'm suggesting maybe the rock is alive as well and what we really have there is a symbiotic relationship between two types of life.

That's way too crunchy mystical for me. I don't want to consider the tree I am hugging is possibly getting woody.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

AJ is on the verge of becoming religious.

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That's way too crunchy mystical for me. I don't want to consider the tree I am hugging is possibly getting woody.

AJ is on the verge of becoming religious.

If by 'religious' you mean your silly little monotheistic claptrap invented by some people who spent way too much time in the desert sun.... no.

[JohnSmith2007 353]

Maybe the older faiths like those practiced by the indigenous peoples of America had it right when they considered the planet and the land to have its own life force.

Contemporary western science would tell you the rock is not alive but the algae is. (BTW I'm responding based on the image URL i can't actually see the image right now.)

I'm suggesting maybe the rock is alive as well and what we really have there is a symbiotic relationship between two types of life.

I guess anything is possible. There can be a valid case made for considering the planet earth itself to be alive and a life force on it's own.

BTW, the picture is of a layer of alge imbedded in a rock found in Antartica. It shows that life can exsist just about anywhere. I saw a TV show the other day where scientists were going to the bottom of a mine in South Africa and finding life in the rocks a mile down. The idea that life is thriving in rocks miles underground is amazing.

[Jenn! 918]

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I guess anything is possible. There can be a valid case made for considering the planet earth itself to be alive and a life force on it's own.

+1

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I guess anything is possible. There can be a valid case made for considering the planet earth itself to be alive and a life force on it's own.

Yeah, like the fact that we are killing life as we know it on this planet and a small percentage of people on this living globe refuse to accept science.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

If by 'religious' you mean your silly little monotheistic claptrap invented by some people who spent way too much time in the desert sun.... no.

Okay, Lord Shiva.