NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

[billybob123]

There's always doubt about things like this as well (i.e. "game changers"). I read an article where a biologist suggested that there could have been trace elements of phosphates in the culture medium/vessels etc. Alternately, the bacteria might be good at recycling trace amounts of phosphorus into DNA and RNA backbones and the arsenates are associated somehow. I didn't know this but apparently the half-life of arsenate in (boring geek-speak coming up) arsenodiester backbones would be extremely short in aqueous environments (e.g. the cytoplasm of this bacteria). So either the DNA/RNA are stabilized in someway we don't know yet, or the hypothesis is wrong.

Phosphorus is also pretty important in regulating activity of proteins - protein phosphorylation is one of the key changers in signaling events; if this bacteria was able to evolve proteins that could use phosphates or arsenates interchangeably (I read the article and the bacteria seems to be able to switch between the two without problems) that would be really neat. Phosphates are also important in membranes - they make up the fats that form the membranes, which also have a lot of roles in signalling and cell survival.

The reason arsenic is so toxic to us is that it replaces phosphates in our cells; going back to grade 11 biology we all rememeber ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is formed in respiration - hydrolysis of ATP is what releases energy for most of the cell's requirements. If you swap P for As in these molecules, they're no longer hydrolyzable by the cell and therefore no energy = death.

This article is pretty cool to my eyes. I hope it's true - unique bacteria are pretty awesome to me.

Full disclosure: I'm a microbiologist who used to work on bacteria that did bioremediation and could grow on nitrobenzoate as a carbon source, producing nitrite (toxic) and using that as a nitrogen source. I used to love the enviromental microbiology field - too bad there's no money in it and that's why I'm in the medical micro field now. There's so many incredible bacteria out there that can do things that no one would think possible. With the right selection pressure and the proper means, bacteria can do almost anything we want. Awesome.

[troutman]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/1..._n_793671.html

Lately, a handful of new discoveries make it seem more likely that we are not alone – that there is life somewhere else in the universe.

In the past several days, scientists have reported there are three times as many stars as they previously thought. Another group of researchers discovered a microbe can live on arsenic, expanding our understanding of how life can thrive under the harshest environments. And earlier this year, astronomers for the first time said they'd found a potentially habitable planet.

"The evidence is just getting stronger and stronger," said Carl Pilcher, director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute, which studies the origins, evolution and possibilities of life in the universe. "I think anybody looking at this evidence is going to say, 'There's got to be life out there.'"

A caveat: Since much of this research is new, scientists are still debating how solid the conclusions are.

What last week's findings did was both increase the number of potential homes for life and broaden the definition of what life is. That means the probability for alien life is higher than ever before, agree 10 scientists interviewed by The Associated Press.

Scientists who looked for life were once dismissed as working on the fringes of science. Now, Shostak said, it's the other way around. He said that given the mounting evidence, to believe now that Earth is the only place harboring life is essentially like believing in miracles. "And astronomers tend not to believe in miracles."

Shostak puts his money behind his optimism. At his public lectures, Shostak bets a cup of coffee for everyone in the audience that scientists will find proof of alien life by about 2026. The odds, he figures, have never been more in his favor.

[CaptainCrunch]

Shame I'll likely be dead and dust before we get solid proof of life out there, let alone intelligent life.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by troutman

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/1..._n_793671.html

Lately, a handful of new discoveries make it seem more likely that we are not alone – that there is life somewhere else in the universe.

In the past several days, scientists have reported there are three times as many stars as they previously thought. Another group of researchers discovered a microbe can live on arsenic, expanding our understanding of how life can thrive under the harshest environments. And earlier this year, astronomers for the first time said they'd found a potentially habitable planet.

"The evidence is just getting stronger and stronger," said Carl Pilcher, director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute, which studies the origins, evolution and possibilities of life in the universe. "I think anybody looking at this evidence is going to say, 'There's got to be life out there.'"

A caveat: Since much of this research is new, scientists are still debating how solid the conclusions are.

What last week's findings did was both increase the number of potential homes for life and broaden the definition of what life is. That means the probability for alien life is higher than ever before, agree 10 scientists interviewed by The Associated Press.

Scientists who looked for life were once dismissed as working on the fringes of science. Now, Shostak said, it's the other way around. He said that given the mounting evidence, to believe now that Earth is the only place harboring life is essentially like believing in miracles. "And astronomers tend not to believe in miracles."

Shostak puts his money behind his optimism. At his public lectures, Shostak bets a cup of coffee for everyone in the audience that scientists will find proof of alien life by about 2026. The odds, he figures, have never been more in his favor.

Man this is so exciting! I am truly fascinated by these findings, and I dont even understand it all fully.