Arsenic-Based Life Claim Gets Another Blow

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer

Date: 01 February 2012 Time: 04:28 PM ET

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This scanning electron micrograph shows a strain of the arsenic-eating bacterium called GFAJ-1. CREDIT: Science/AAAS.

One of the most vocal critics of a 2010 claim that a bizarre bacterium might be able to use toxic arsenic as a building block of life has now made public new research refuting that claim.
The manuscript, which is not yet peer-reviewed, appears on the site arxiv.org. This site is normally used by physicists to post pre-published papers and receive constructive criticism, but microbiologist Rosie Redfield of the University of British Columbia decided to extend that use to biology, in an effort to promote open science. She has also submitted the paper to the journal Science for publication.



MORE: http://www.livescience.com/18252-refuting-arsenic-based-life-claim.html

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