Rather alien
3 december 2010 | For days rumours were spread by online blogs that NASA did find some form of alien life. Yesterday, NASA gathered journalists for an announcement which made clear that in fact no alien life was discovered. Instead, scientists proved life can function in a rather alien way.
All life forms are thought to be based on 6 basic chemicalelements: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus andsulfur. A NASA funded research team led by Felisa Wolfe-Simon nowsucceeded in manipulating the bacterium GFAJ-1 to substitutearsenic for phosphorus in its cell components. The microbesretrieved from the Mono Lake in California, therefore, show thatlife forms might be constructed differently than we thought.
For the whole original NASA announcement, click
