NASA Discovers New Life: Arsenic Bacteria With DNA Completely Alien To What We Know

Astrobiology research funded by NASA has made a tremendous new discovery which could "fundamentally change the knowledge about what comprises all known life on Earth," according to NASA. (Scroll down for live video and updates.)

The major finding announced today has fueled speculation recently that reached a fever pitch after the agency said the finding "will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life."

While the discovery is not extraterrestrial life, NASA has indeed uncovered an entirely new life form on our planet that "doesn't share the biological building blocks of anything currently living" on Earth, The New York Daily News reports.

In a bombshell that upends long-held assumptions about the basic building blocks of life, scientists have discovered a a whole new type of creature: a microbe that lives on arsenic. It is unlike every other lifeform on the planet - from the simplest plant to the most complex mammal.

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2:57 PM ET Press Conference Has Ended

NASA concludes the press conference by saying future discoveries could be on the horizon: "Science never sleeps."

2:55 PM ET Experiment Conducted In A Lab

NASA explains how the experiment was conducted:

"The newly discovered microbe, strain GFAJ-1, is a member of a common group of bacteria, the Gammaproteobacteria. 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. When researchers removed the phosphorus and replaced it with arsenic the microbes continued to grow. Subsequent analyses indicated that the arsenic was being used to produce the building blocks of new GFAJ-1 cells."

2:43 PM ET Practical Application Of The Organism

Scientists say that one practical application is using this organism to treat toxic waste dumps that are filled with arsenic. There are many others, including in bio-energy where it is useful to have a phosphorus-free environment.

2:38 PM ET This Had Been Theorized Before

One of the scientists speaking at the conference, Felisa Wolfe-Simon, had written a paper "Did Nature also choose arsenic?" earlier this year wondering if that element could also be a foundation for life:

We hypothesize that ancient biochemical systems, analogous to but distinct from those known today, could have utilized arsenate in the equivalent biological role as phosphate.

Organisms utilizing such 'weird life' biochemical pathways may have supported a 'shadow biosphere' at the time of the origin and early evolution of life on Earth or on other planets.

Such organisms may even persist on Earth today, undetected, in unusual niches.

Jason Kottke gives a rundown of other scientists at the news conference and their expertise.

2:36 PM ET More Ideas To Test

Wolfe-Simon: "Lot of ideas I'd like to test about finding new forms of life. I think that we can learn a lot [on Earth] as well as life in any planetary context. It's all very important."

2:33 PM ET Explanation Of Discovery

Science Magazine, in which Wolfe-Simon and colleagues' article "A Bacterium That Can

Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorous" will appear, has released this YouTube video.

WATCH:

2:28 PM ET 'Deadly Arsenic Breathes Life'

Arizona State University is proudly sharing its role in the discovery with this headline: "Astrobiologists: Deadly arsenic breathes life into organisms."

2:18 PM ET On Why This Is Exciting

Professor James Elser on the discovery (paraphrased): Phosphorus only comes from a few places on Earth that are rapidly being completed. The distribution of which is very limited. Phosphorus might become very scarce due to the demand for fertilizer, which is why it's so exciting that we can possibly use organisms that are able to grow without phosphorus to support the many of the essential functions that phosphorus is a part of.

2:11 PM ET Bioscientist: Discovery Is 'Profound'

The NASA press conference has started.

The lead scientist behind the research Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon says, "This microbe is doing something different than what we know."

She adds, "We've cracked open the door for what's possible for life elsewhere in the universe. and that's profound to understand how life is formed and where life is going."

2:03 PM ET What The Bacteria Looks Like

Here's a picture of the bacteria:

-Posted by Gizmodo

1:58 PM ET Home Of New Life Form

Here's a Flickr slideshow of Mono Lake, California, where this bacteria lives.

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Comments

[Wisdo]

09:10 AM on 01/08/2011

I predict that there will be no cumuppance from this.

After all, nothing could possibly go wrong.

[ScottV]

02:15 PM on 12/09/2010

Ahh I see they did a DNA test on Palin.

[rocketman69]

01:40 AM on 12/07/2010

What's the difference between these and the bugs that eat sulpher in those boiling vents in the ocean?

[LightShadow62]

01:24 PM on 12/06/2010

Technically NASA didn't discover new life, they created it by genetically substituting arsenic for sodium.

If you are going to report it, get the details right. Even in the headline.

[aeuropeanvoice]

11:19 AM on 12/06/2010

Forget about this discovery ,a measuring error has been made .The sample was contaminated with arsenicum from the beginning.
Back to the testing tubes folks .

[PuffDragon]

06:40 PM on 12/05/2010

Why should we be so arrogant to think that 100 years of modern science had everything figured out to a T? This is really cool.

[RedDogBear]

07:06 PM on 12/05/2010

"Why should we be so arrogant to think that 100 years of modern science had everything figured out to a T?"

Why do you think anyone thinks that? Certainly no competent scientist does.

[Hurloon]

03:18 AM on 12/06/2010

That's the difference between science and religion. Science keeps looking, even if that means correcting itself.

[rbennett]

11:57 AM on 12/05/2010

Wow, there is a lot of nastiness on here. I don't think this article was under the political section.
The most important point of this discovery is summed up by the narrator in the AAAS.org video above:
"[This discovery] could support NASA's Astrobiology program because it suggests that the requirements for life's basic building blocks may be more flexible than we thought."
This might be very important for the advancement of scientific research for understanding ourselves and the universe. That is the take home point from this.

[EthosLogosPathos]

10:58 AM on 12/05/2010

"In a bombshell that upends long-held assumptions about the basic building blocks of life ... "

Hey wait a minute ... I thought "the science was settled" on this issue and then they come up with this new discovery ?!

Whoops. Silly me, I forgot man-made global warming is the only place where the science has been completely settled. All other areas of science are still officially open to more discovery.

Carry on, good people of NASA - just don't waste your time or our taxpayer dollars trying to further explore Gorebal Warming please.

[Krakondack]

12:00 PM on 12/05/2010

Science does produce useful information and technology. Don't knock it. But you are correct that science also produces vast excesses of hubris. If I had a time capsule for 100 years out, I'd put the bet in it that all current paradigms will be considered wrong at that time. And the same will be true of 100 years at 200 years, and so on. The hunger for a narrative produces a story that is mostly unsupported by the facts.

[RedDogBear]

05:33 PM on 12/05/2010

I would take that bet. I'm not saying we won't learn a lot in the coming years but the basic paradigms in biology (evolution) and physics (quantum, and relativity) are very well understood and supported by countless experiments to very fine levels of accuracy. People often over emphasize the nature of scientific revolution. Even the classic example relativity overthrowing newtonian wasn't a case of throwing out the old paradigm. Newtonian physics works very well in most circumstances and wasn't really replaced by Einstein but refined and enhanced.

[EthosLogosPathos]

07:24 PM on 12/05/2010

I'm just teasing the global warming crowd. Science is indeed a valuable endeavor, however when it's turned into religion for political purposes and to prolong lucrative research grants (like global warming) then I become cynical.

My view is that the science on anything is NEVER settled. To think we know everything about everything at this point in time is complete folly.

[deweydecimal]

06:46 PM on 12/05/2010

Science is never settled. If you knew anything about science you'd understand that.

[EthosLogosPathos]

07:27 PM on 12/05/2010

I fully subscribe to that exact belief - the science is never settled.

Your sarcasm detector must have a loose wire. My sarcastic post was entirely meant to mock Al Gore (Mr. The Science is Settled) and the global warming apostles.

[Chemberlain]

09:26 AM on 12/05/2010

Great find, though why is NASA searching life on Earth?

[RedDogBear]

05:35 PM on 12/05/2010

NASA is interested in understanding how life evolved from non-living chemicals as well as how adaptable life can be. Both issues are very relevent to understanding if and where life exists elsewhere in the universe than earth. Since we haven't found any extra-terrestrial life yet they do this research on earth life.

[yourbuffers]

05:50 AM on 12/05/2010

Quick libs, add some arsenic to your diet! It will definitely help society survive. There is nothing more destructive than modern liberalism. That is for sure.

[IHateTheGOP]

10:11 AM on 12/05/2010

You're on the wrong thread here pal. .This is science, something you guys no nothing about. Go back to fox "news" dot com, where you belong. The people figuring this stuff out aren't repugs.

[Gregor53]

09:12 PM on 12/04/2010

Wonder if it is in symbiotic relationship with another new form we can call Old Lace.  I am sure there are billions of different forms of what we could consider to be "life" in our Universe.  Seems like if there were Intelligent Design involved in this creation of nature, he/she/them/it/whatever would not waste such a large volume as space to simply provide a tiny, but marvelous chunk of rock we call Earth and all the parasites that live on it (including us).

[Lonesomebri]

09:12 PM on 12/04/2010

This saddens me greatly. I've had the priviledge of gazing out on Mono Lake, unaware of the undocumented aliens thriving just below the surface. Even if their ancestors were here for eons, this is no excuse for them not to follow the same DNA rules as everyone else. My grandparents didn't get arsenic handouts, that way of life was poison to hard working real American folks like them. Not only stealing work from other bacterium, but scoffing at the laws others must abide by, this is an outrage. And what does out government do? Spend money studing these deviants. Their abuse of the system is unconsionable.

[HarrietM]

12:12 AM on 12/05/2010

I know, right? I am appalled. ;-)

F&F

[Lonesomebri]

02:12 PM on 12/06/2010

How many squatters are in your home? Or is this a hollow complaint? More than acceptance, probably more problems are caused by hate, intolerance, lack of sense of humor......

[esquilax]

09:02 PM on 12/04/2010

So where is the Science section HuffPo? While I was away I see you acquired a "Divorce" section to go with the "Religion" section, but still no Science.

[JGatsby]

11:46 PM on 12/04/2010

I would also like a science section however look at the comments on this article. Most of them are feeble attempts at humor or nonsensical comments about the arrogance of the human race, UFO conspiracies, etc. I'm afraid Ms. H knows her audience. New age nonsense sells, science not so much.

[Hurloon]

03:22 AM on 12/06/2010

The reason is that journalists who cover science are often woefully undereducated in the subject matter (their degree usually requires only one basic science class), and as a result seem only to provide quote mines for people opposed to science. If they're going to have a science section, they darn well better have actual scientists doing the writing.

[rory talbot]

06:45 PM on 12/04/2010

NASA Discovers New Life: Arsenic Bacteria With DNA Completely Alien To What We Know. We affectionately call them the "GOP."

[Truth-Seeker]

05:15 PM on 12/04/2010

It would still need to be shown that this kind of life could 'likely', or even EVER START, in the absence of phosphorous. If it couldn't then this would have a big implication in the claims that life like this could develop on a world that doesn't have phosphorous, or doesn't start the same way it started on earth (with phosphorous). Therefore, her claims to fame seem to be WAY ahead of what is really known about these organisms and its implications for life on other planets. I'm surprised other scientists aren't cautioning her to slow down a bit with her publicity campaign. This geo-biologist sounds incredibly self-centered to me and I don't know if she is really the "next Einstein" that she is trying so hard to make herself out to be - explaining at every chance she gets, how maybe, only someone like her could have come up with this idea, because she is such an out-of-the-box thinker (and others may not bet). She sure is patting herself on the back, a lot, already.

[Virgil Kane]

11:43 AM on 12/05/2010

This bacteria can also incorporate phosphorus in it's DNA and lipids. If you look at the paper the trace amounts of phosphorus used in the growth media might have been enough for survival. It's hard to interpret the data without the proper controls....