[quote]
Earlier this week we learned that NASA was gearing up to share some important information relating to an astrobiological discovery. Of course, our minds immediately turned to aliens. Still, deep down, we knew that NASA would not report that it had found Krypton, ALF, ET, or a Cylon war zone. No, though it would likely be something substantial, it would be altogether much more mundane than actual, real life, extraterrestrial aliens.
NASA's event is still a few hours away, but what would embargoed information be if there wasn't someone prepared to leak it a couple of hours in advance? Thanks to Dutch magazine NOS, we know that NASA has indeed found alien life. It's just not extraterrestrial.
Present in the toxic, arsenic-riddled Mono Lake in California is a type of bacteria with a DNA makeup we never thought possible. That is, the building blocks of life -- carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur – are not all present. As opposed to phosphorus, this bacteria's DNA uses arsenic.
So it's not extraterrestrial life, but it's definitely alien to us, as we thought absolutely everything was made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur. The possibility of life outside this tiny, little planet we call home is now much more likely because we're not only looking for things with these specific building blocks.
More information will be available when NASA's press conference officially starts, at 2 p.m., so we'll keep you posted!
[/quote]
[url]http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Alien-DNA-NASA-Mono-Lake-Bacteria,news-9183.html[/url]
TL;DR: Found new bacteria which uses Arsenic instead of Phosphorus, like everything else so far on earth. This means life can be built from a wider range of elements than we thought previously.
Holy shit, bacteria which lives on arsenic?
God damn it NASA, how late could you be?
[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;26447433]God damn it NASA, how late could you be?[/QUOTE]
How can this be late if it's the first time proven to exist?
Fucking awesome.
It's amazing how life has emerged spontaneously twice on Earth (that we know of..!).
[QUOTE=DrLuke;26447471]How can this be late if it's the first time proven to exist?[/QUOTE]
It was already pretty obvious that organisms adapt over time.
[QUOTE=DrLuke;26447534]This isn't just adaptation, as it is different in the very molecular level.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, didn't know that, should have read the thread.
What.
That's all I can say.
[QUOTE=FalconKrunch;26447502]It was already pretty obvious that organisms adapt over time.[/QUOTE]
This isn't just adaptation, as it is different in the very molecular level.
[QUOTE=FalconKrunch;26447502]It was already pretty obvious that organisms adapt over time.[/QUOTE]
This is nothing to do with adapting though?
[QUOTE=benzi2k7;26447489]It's amazing how life has emerged spontaneously twice on Earth (that we know of..!).[/QUOTE]
Just because it uses arsenic as connectors between base-pairs instead of phosphate groups doesn't mean it has to be on a separate lineage as the main forms of life. We'll find out more once they sequence the DNA and run some bioinformatics on it.
ZOOM
ENHANCE
yup that's some arsenic dna alright
Fucking aliens with their fancy-flying-lightballs spitting all over the place like chavs
[QUOTE=DrLuke;26447471]How can this be late if it's the first time proven to exist?[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14537-arseniceating-bacteria-rewrite-evolutionary-history.html[/url]
[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;26447681][url]http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14537-arseniceating-bacteria-rewrite-evolutionary-history.html[/url][/QUOTE]
Not the same thing.
That's where they just use arsenate as an energy source, in this alleged discovery, arsenate would replace phosphate groups in the DNA/RNA sequence.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/RNA_chemical_structure.GIF[/img]
[QUOTE=Dustinm16;26447757][img_thumb]http://www.merchantcafe.com/images/Smiley-face-evolution.gif[/img_thumb][/QUOTE]
That's the first thing I thought of when I read arsenic.
[QUOTE=Kagrenak;26447774]Not the same thing.
That's where they just use arsenate as an energy source, in this alleged discovery, arsenate would replace phosphate groups in the DNA/RNA sequence.
[img_thumb]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/RNA_chemical_structure.GIF[/img_thumb][/QUOTE]
I see, never the less, these two discoveries are [most likely] related.
So NASA gave up on space and are exploring lakes now?
[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;26447800]I see, never the less, these two discoveries are [most likely] related.[/QUOTE]
Possibly, yeah.
Called it
Is its DNA helix shaped?
[QUOTE=farmatyr;26447866]Is its DNA helix shaped?[/QUOTE]
I doubt it would alter the structure. So yes, it would still be a double helix, and if it has any plasmids, they would still be circular.
[QUOTE=cani;26447808]So NASA gave up on space and are exploring lakes now?[/QUOTE]
If you can't see how this is relevant to finding extraterrestrial life you should probably stop coming into science-related threads.
Finding life with an entirely different DNA makeup is the biggest finding of the year, perhaps the decade, since it doesn't fit into what we understand life to be. It opens the doors to finding life in a myriad of different environments, many of which we already know to exist on planets we know about
[QUOTE=Zeke129;26447912]If you can't see how this is relevant to finding extraterrestrial life you should probably stop coming into science-related threads.
Finding life with an entirely different DNA makeup is the biggest finding of the year, perhaps the decade, since it doesn't fit into what we understand life to be. It opens the doors to finding life in a myriad of different environments, many of which we already know to exist on planets we know about[/QUOTE]
I'm still not sure that the makeup is completely different. Genes could be the same. If the genetic code is completely different from anything we know; then it's a second origin point of life. If the genetic code is the same, somehow the phosphate in their DNA got replaced with arsenic and is staying that way throughout the generations.
Either possibility is immensely fascinating and important, however.
[QUOTE=Kagrenak;26447938]If the genetic code is the same, somehow the phosphate in their DNA got replaced with arsenic and is staying that way throughout the generations.[/QUOTE]
Can that happen? I just assumed this meant a definite second origin point of life.
snip, didn't think it through
It kinda makes sense, actually, since phosphorus and arsenic are both Group 15 elements (otherwise known as the nitrogen group).
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