Musical chairs around the periodic table
Thursday, February 17, 2011 - 10:50
in Biology & Nature
Life on Earth is composed of a handful of essential elements from the periodic table. Recently, one group of researchers claimed that this ingredient list should be expanded, having found a bacteria that presumably switches poisonous arsenic in for phosphorous. Other scientists are skeptical, but they still entertain the thought of switching the rules in the biochemistry playbook.