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On a variation of Halomonadaceae which might substitute arsenate for phosphate. Not alien. Maybe.

edited December 2010 in Technology
Article explains a possible discovery that will be announced tomorrow.
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Comments

  • This is huge.
  • This is huge and potentially awesome.
  • Article is misleading and speculative. NASA hasn't announced shit yet.
  • Article is misleading and speculative. NASA hasn't announced shit yet.
    Hence my modified thread title. ~_^
  • Article is misleading and speculative. NASA hasn't announced shit yet.
    IF it is true it is huge.
  • I knew it. James Cameron's The Abyss was a documentary.
  • Have. We may HAVE.
  • Have. We may HAVE.
    Fixed, the title was changed from sort of to may have, however it was not correctly changed.
  • I agree with Rym that this article is poorly written and misleading. They can't even get the name of the lake right, going from Mono to Mona Lake at the end.

    I can't find any recent papers by Wolfe-Simon that talk about this at all which is odd, I wouldn't want to do a press conference on something that isn't published. I did find this paper from another group that was funded by NASA and talks about bacteria oxidizing arsenite (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20511421). One point in the discussion of the paper is that the biofilms they test have bacteria that are missing an arsenite oxidase gene (aoxB) despite the fact they can verify that oxidation is occurring in the biofilms. This suggests a new mechanism but they don't suggest what other genes/proteins may be involved with it. I think the last line sums this all up pretty nicely, "They offer us a glimpse into the Earth's distant past of the potential influence of anoxygenic photosynthesis upon primordial arsenic cycling."

    On the other hand, I do know that Mono Lake is a very unique site to study. It has a very high concentration of virus and bacteria for an aquatic environment despite being alkaline and hypersaline. I only know this because my old boss looked at the viruses found there and he found that they were morphologically different from other aquatic areas they've studied. So while the bacteria in Mono Lake are different so are the viruses that attack them. I guess what I'm saying is that if you were going to find something odd, this would be the place to find it. But I think these are more likely to be microscopic Coelacanths rather than alien bacteria and viruses.
  • This makes me think about what really counts as an alien, sort of like the former discussion about what counts as a planet.

    Extraterrestrial is a much more specific word. But alien can refer to an extraterrestrial, a creature that lives near the bottom of the sea, a non-carbon based life form, or a Mexican. I think it needs some narrowing.
  • Even if this thing isn't an alien, I have some cool ideas for its genes.
  • There's been a substantial though not overwhelming interest in this particular question for some time now. There are even some researchers here at the UW, professors I've been seriously looking at trying to work with, who have been looking into extremophilic life for this very reason. Fun fact: the University of Washington has a robust astrobiology program!

    I wouldn't be completely dumbfounded if they turned up life that was to all appearances the product of an independent biogenesis. On the other hand, I agree that that article's not very good, and until I see the paper(s) in question I can't say whether there's a compelling case to think they have in fact found such life. The substitution of arsenic for phosphorus is very interesting and as far as I know unique, but unless there's a fundamentally different biochemistry at work here and not a simple swap - one that you can see is unusual but not unfeasible if you've taken a basic chemistry class and look at a Periodic Table - I don't think it stands alone as a reasonable case for "alien" life.
  • edited December 2010
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • Arsenic based life forms!Naturearticle.
    Is it ok for me to say "THIS IS FREAKING HUGE" now?
  • Arsenic based life forms!Naturearticle.
    Is it ok for me to say "THIS IS FREAKING HUGE" now?
    Yes. Yes it is.
  • Arsenic based life forms!Naturearticle.
    I find the author's name more then a little ironic.
  • This is just a ploy to distract us from discovering the real aliens. Wake up, sheeple!
  • This is just a ploy to distract us from discovering the real aliens. Wake up, sheeple!
    TEACH THE CONTROVERSY!...OF ARSENIC.
  • Arsenic based life forms!
    Saying that is misleading. They aren't arsenic based like we're carbon based, they're still carbon based. They just have Arsenic in their DNA rather than Phosphorous, which sounds amazing until you look at your periodic table and see that As is right under P. It's interesting and ground breaking, but really only for people who study such things in depth. It's not alien, and it's a stretch to even call it a new form of life. Just interesting really.
  • Saying that is misleading. They aren't arsenic based like we're carbon based, they're still carbon based. They just have Arsenic in their DNA rather than Phosphorous, which sounds amazing until you look at your periodic table and see that As is right under P. It's interesting and ground breaking, but really only for people who study such things in depth. It's not alien, and it's a stretch to even call it a new form of life. Just interesting really.
    Says the "Information Scientist"...
    image
  • edited December 2010
    Says the "Information Scientist"...
    Aren't you an engineering student?
    Post edited by George Patches on
  • edited December 2010
    Aren't you an engineeringstudent?
    If by engineering student you mean graduate with a B.S. in Computer Science with a focus in Computational Theory and Artificial Intelligence and is currently working as a Graduate Researcher while applying for the Ph.D program, then yes. Don't you have some Java to go code?
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • Aren't you an engineeringstudent?
    If by engineering student you mean graduate with a B.S. in Computer Science with a focus in Computational Theory and Artificial Intelligence and is currently working as a Graduate Researcher while applying for the Ph.D program, than yes. Don't you have some Java to go code?
    PWNED!!!!

    ...oh wait.
  • PWNED!!!!

    ...oh wait.
    image
  • RymRym
    edited December 2010
    It's not alien, and it's a stretch to even call it a new form of life. Just interesting really.
    Actually, it implies that DNA possibly arose independently in an analogous form, or that memes function largely the same regardless of their substructure.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • edited December 2010
    A bit, I wish I'd had more Comp Sci teaching in college.

    But yeah, this NASA story as actually really boring. It's just bacteria that evolved to use As, it's really uninteresting if you aren't an evolutionary biologist. It's just a sensational title.
    Actually, it implies that DNA possibly arose independently in an analogous form,
    Yeah, only interesting to the evolutionary biologists and another nail in the coffin of intelligent design.
    Post edited by George Patches on
  • uhhhh What? You learn in High School "All life on Earth is made of six components: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur" We now can take Phosphorus off the list. That's pretty huge. The implications are huge for a ton of related fields.
  • it's really uninteresting if you aren't an evolutionary biologist.
    I disagree. This is fascinating and important. I am not an evolutionary biologist, and I salivate at the thought of further investigation.
  • I disagree. This is fascinating and important. I am not an evolutionary biologist, and Isalivateat the thought of further investigation.
    You're also in the top 5% of intelligence.
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