New bacteria redefines life as we know it

[zadkiel91]

Nasa just discovered the first microbe known to life to be able to use arsenic in its DNA structure in place of phosphorous, which is used by all other known life forms.

I think that now we certainly have to broaden our search parameters when looking for new life. Here is the link to this incredible discovery =D
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20...html?tag=mncol

[Nyokou]

Pretty ****ing cool stuff. That bacteria is badass.

[banditcom]

The replies in this thread make me happy I visit this forum once a week or less.

[Patashu]

lol at everyone who thinks this is inconsequential

hundreds of papers are going to be written about this kind of thing

[Aldentron]

My understanding from the article I read earlier on Gizmodo was that before this, scientists were only looking for life forms that have the same DNA build as we do, with phosporous, sulfur, etc.

This means that now they will have to broaden their search to not only arsenic, but every other chemical, too. Which means we are more likely to find other forms of life now than we ever have been.

So yes, this redefines life as we know it.

[Sullyman2007]

Originally Posted by banditcom

The replies in this thread make me happy I visit this forum once a week or less.

ffr dude

[OneHandNow]

replace my phosphorus with arsenic

[Sprite-]

Wow this is really an awesome find.

[jimerax]

This is interesting material, I saw this news while ago.

[WolfXhunter]

[travman301]

That's amazing. D:

[Rubin0]

How can anyone think this isn't interesting? This is a great example of how science can never prove anything. It can only disprove all of our assumptions. I always believed that the Science community's biggest flaw has always been that they are always looking for earth-like qualities on other planets. People have this assumption that our way is the only way...meaning life can only be sustained in other places the way it is sustained here. I don't want to get into a whole religious debate but I really do think it has an effect on how research is done, even if many scientists do consider themselves atheist or agnostic. This will hopefully broaden our scope. Can't wait until we find those damn aliens.

[kmay]

in my bio class we read a paper about a bacteria that could eat the green house gases. it was found in some very acidic area i can't recall much about it off the top of my head, but it is very interesting and could possible slow/stop the deterioration of the ozone.


this article is very interesting. i would love to get in a field like this, but it takes a lot to make a name for yourself in this kind of field. you need to have amazing funding and a lot of support to be able to find stuff such as this, or extreme luck.

altough I'm not getting how something with arsenic in their DNA is very beneficial. Hopefully in the near future we can discover the uses for this mutation

[Bill Kaulitz]

They need to find the cure to cancer. That should be number one priority. =/

Besides...Nasa...

Should be also looking for other planets to live on. What's with this ****?

[Patashu]

let's cure cancer

pros:
no more millions of dollars spent keeping people with cancer alive indefinitely because THOU MUST
cons:
people now have to be cared for well into old age more of the time

eh

let's cure diabetes instead, b/c that doesn't kill people just makes them hilariously expensive for their whole life

[fido123]

Cancer? If you're going to start talking about where it's better to put our money why not spend a minor fraction of the cost it would take to discover treatment and administer that treatment to end extreme hunger and morbid poverty? Why not even AIDS? Money has to be invested in multiple places. Also couldn't discoveries like these still help open up more avenues to perhaps help cure cancer.

Also this is awesome =U

[Garquillex]

Originally Posted by Bill Kaulitz

They need to find the cure to cancer. That should be number one priority. =/

Besides...Nasa...

Should be also looking for other planets to live on. What's with this ****?

It would be redundant and inefficient to put every scientist to work on one thing.
Do you know how far away any other potentially inhabitable planets other than Mars would be? -_-

Science is so misunderstood.

[Nyokou]

Ah, the idiocy of people on FFR... never gets old.

Can't appreciate a good find, always gotta complain about some other **** that has nothing to do with the subject at hand. I'm with OneHandNow. It would be badass to have arsenic in my DNA.

[Reincarnate]

This isn't *surprising* news, because in theory this should be expected.

But it's great to see reality pulling through.

[Mulie]

Somehow I've found it very difficult to express my enthusiasm over this news.

It's very interesting. I'm glad this was posted. It's very good to know. (Not sarcasm.)

Whether life must be constructed of the same fundamental elements everywhere is actually relevant to some of the thoughts that have been occupying me of late.