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JANUARY 27th
MISSION: Look up GFAJ-1.
SOURCE: Elliot
DETAILS: In December of 2010 Felisa Wolfe-Simon discovered a bacteria in Mono Lake, California that when starved of Phosphorus, can incorporate Arsenic into it’s basic DNA and continue growing. Until this discovery, the six elements that life depended on were Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur. So if Wolfe-Simon’s conclusions are correct, scientists would have to re-examine how they identify life on this (and potentially any other) planet. The name of the bacteria is GFAJ-1, and while there are some skeptics, research is continuing on this potentially groundbreaking discovery.
STATUS: Complete
