arsenic-based bacterium

NASA discovery expands scope of SETI research

December 2, 2010 by Editor

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Bacterium GFAJ-1 grown on arsenic. (J. Switzer Blum)

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. In recent years, however, astrobiologists, including Arizona State University professors Ariel Anbar and Paul Davies, have stepped up conversations about alternative forms of life.

Anbar and Davies are coauthors of the new paper, along with ASU associate research scientist Gwyneth Gordon. The lead author is Felisa Wolfe-Simon, a former postdoctoral scientist in Anbar’s research group at ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences./.../