Arsenic is a kind of poison and the suggestion that the bacteria called GFAJ-1
replaced phosphorus, a basic chemical constituent of biochemistry, with
the toxin attracted an avalanche of critical comment online and then in
journals, including Science.
The
journal notes in an editorial statement 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."
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