A 2010 finding made by scientists at NASA-Ames and Menlo Park U.S. Geological Survey came under attack by other scientists challenging the assumption made by them about an arsenic-loving microbe which breaks the long-held rules of life.
The earlier study was funded by NASA and led by biologist Felisa Wolfe-Simon, and co-authored by other federal researchers, was published in the journal Science in 2010. Scientists involved in that study claimed to have discovered "the first known microorganism on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic."
The previous study showed how bacterium called GFAJ-1 in Mono Lake swapped phosphorus for toxic arsenic and flourished without any problem.
According to the study, GFAJ-1 or the arseniclife bacteria "can vary the elemental composition of its basic biomolecules by substituting (arsenic) for (phosphorus)," a result that was considered impossible in biological theory.
The latest study, however, refutes that claims made by the early study saying "new research shows that GFAJ-1 does not break the long-held rules of life." The bacteria, "is likely adept at scavenging phosphate under harsh conditions, which would help to explain why it can grow even when arsenic is present within the cells," the editorial statement by Science says.
The journal further added that "if true, such a finding would have important implications for our understanding of life's basic requirements since all known forms of life on Earth use six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. Arsenic is typically toxic to living organisms, but its chemical properties are similar to those of phosphorus."
Wolfe-Simon, however, said in a response, "There is nothing in the data of these new papers that contradicts our published data," and suggested that her team will submit more data on the bacteria for publication within a few months.
The findings are released on Sunday by the journal Science.
