Thanks Terry, what is disturbing: we a;ready knew about this- Lake Mono and more arsenic eating bacteria species see e.g. Discovery Channel, Aug 14, 2008. In my opinion, Mesenchytraeus solifugus- the Alaskan ice worm is even stranger and typical for understanding the essence of life conquering and eating. Actually P and As are similar elnments, si replacing one with the other is no great trick. Toxicity is not in an element per se, but in the cell(s) of the eater.
On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 3:16 PM, Terry Blanton <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 2:08 AM, Peter Gluck <[email protected]> wrote: > > > These bacteria gourmets are eating arsenic, OK! I have some doubts re > > fluorine and chlorine, > > but I am open to the facts. > > What wasn't clear in the press release but is in the detailed article: > > http://www.astrobio.net/exclusive/3698/thriving-on-arsenic > > is that the organism successfully created it's DNA backbone, the sides > of the DNA ladder with arsenic. > > > If there is something to eat, life appears immediately. > > You might find this amusing: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaFZTAOb7IE > > T > >
