Nasa discovers arsenic based life form...

[joeactor]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20024450-52.html

In a press conference held at NASA's Washington D.C. headquarters, scientists announced that they had discovered a new form of bacteria, known as GFAJ-1, in California's Mono Lake that has DNA completely foreign to anything ever before found on Earth. It substitutes arsenic at the DNA level for phosphorus.

[SSY]

I love stuff like this.

This kind of thing keeps convincing me that separate abiogensis events are possible.

[joeactor]

I love stuff like this.

This kind of thing keeps convincing me that separate abiogensis events are possible.

Same here.  Really hoping they publish more details.  Would love to see if the DNA is radically different.


But the cynic in me is waiting for the creationists to claim it's evidence that god is still creating new stuff...  

[Sophus]

According to PZ Myers it's no big deal.

[Inevitable Droid]

This kind of thing keeps convincing me that separate abiogensis events are possible.

Yes.  The laws of chemistry, the better we understand them, seem more and more to be such that life is more probable than we might otherwise have guessed.   We might one day conclude that life is inevitable.  Meanwhile, the heroes of knowledge will keep doing science.

[Inevitable Droid]

According to PZ Myers it's no big deal.

I think his blanket's a little too wet, although I agree this isn't nearly the momentous discovery I allowed myself to hope for.  If the bacteria had been found on a meteor that only landed last week, I'd be a lot more excited.  If the bacteria were found by a Mars Rover I'd be turning cartwheels.  But still, life's amazing ability to adapt is always of interest, for me at least.

[Sophus]

According to PZ Myers it's no big deal.

I think his blanket's a little too wet, although I agree this isn't nearly the momentous discovery I allowed myself to hope for.  If the bacteria had been found on a meteor that only landed last week, I'd be a lot more excited.  If the bacteria were found by a Mars Rover I'd be turning cartwheels.  But still, life's amazing ability to adapt is always of interest, for me at least.

Blanket too wet?  

[Inevitable Droid]

Blanket too wet?  :cool:

[TinkerBelle]

You can watch the entire conference here, if you're so inclined: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFO21VxfdEg (well, it's part 1 of 4, but it's easy to find the other three parts)

If I were to live another 50+ years, this news would be a little more exciting. A fascinating discovery, at any rate.

Cheers,
Holly (looking forward to the Geminid meteor shower on the 13th: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/geminids2010.html)

[The Magic Pudding]

This thread gets abiogenesis into perspective, for me any way.

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=420081

[Ultima22689]

Tinkerbelle, if you got 2-3 more decades still coming, you'll see a whole lot more than 50.


I think this is quite exciting, although I can't stand PZ Myers, I think he's quite annoying but i'm inclined to agree while this is a really big discovery, it isn't as massive as some people are reporting it to be. I was so mad when someone called it alien life, actually read some decent articles then facepalmed but still quite happy about it.

[TinkerBelle]

Tinkerbelle, if you got 2-3 more decades still coming, you'll see a whole lot more than 50.


I think this is quite exciting, although I can't stand PZ Myers, I think he's quite annoying but i'm inclined to agree while this is a really big discovery, it isn't as massive as some people are reporting it to be. I was so mad when someone called it alien life, actually read some decent articles then facepalmed but still quite happy about it.

This is an important discovery in that maybe it has opened the door (or at least cracked it) to new ideas of what to look for, when it comes to looking for other forms of life. I too, was a little disappointed about how this story first broke. I had visions of the movie "The Abyss", but my excitement quickly dwindled away as I watched the conference. It's still fascinating for what it actually is, though.

As a side note: Hey, if I get another 2-3 decades, you can color me tickled pink!

Cheers,
Holly

[LARA]

I thought this was some pretty cool news, and gotta wonder if arsenic can substitute for phosphorus in DNA what other kind of biochemicals it might could substitute for phosphorus in.  Kind of like the silicon based life instead of carbon based life idea so popular in sci fi for a time.

I would have to hazard a crackpottish statement here and say that life is just inevitable dammit.  If there are atoms and energy, then there will be a living thing organizing itself out of the mess somehow. My dearest 8 year-old has been educating me on the pools of liquid methane on Titan recently.  The humor value of puddles of liquid farts notwithstanding, I will have to waste some internet time on the possibility of some bizarre form of life arising in this type of fluid.  Weird stuff, this universe.

[hackenslash]

For anybody who's interested in the actual paper by Wolfe-Simon et al, I have a copy. PM me your e-mither address and I'll send it to you.

[Recusant]

Thanks for posting this, joeactor.  I'd heard the buzz earlier, but hadn't gotten around to searching out the story yet.

This thread gets abiogenesis into perspective, for me any way.

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=420081

And thanks for the nice link, Magic Pudding.  I think that physicsforums.com is one of the great places on the internet, and there are a couple of good links in the thread as well.