New Lifeform found On Earth

Researchers on Thursday said they had bred microbes that absorb the notorious poison arsenic into their DNA, in an experiment that could rewrite the rules of life.
Until now, all organisms were thought to have six essential elements in common: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, carbon and phosphorus. The researchers say the bacteria they grew in the lab now "very likely" use arsenic instead of phosphorus in critical parts of their working biology, including their spiral backbone of DNA. If the new findings hold up, scientists will have to add noxious element 33 to the construction kit for existence.

The bacteria were dredged from the briny sludge of California's Mono Lake, where the water is richly laced with arsenic and with bacteria that can survive in it. In the lab, the researchers grew the bacteria in Petri dishes in which phosphate salt normally essential for life was gradually replaced by arsenic, until the bacteria could grow without needing phosphate. They confirmed their finding through a battery of tests with mass spectrometers, radioactive tracers, X-rays and conventional genetic screening.

Links :

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703377504575650840897300342.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1&

http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/enterprise-apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228500210&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

http://gizmodo.com/5704158/nasa-finds-new-life

NASA Scientist Finds Alien Life - March 06 2011

http://current.com/technology/93051246_nasa-scientist-finds-alien-life.htm