Replication of arsenic life experiment not successful so far
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 11:01
in Biology & Nature
One of the most vocal and ardent critics of the so-called 'arsenic life' experiment which was published in December 2010 was biologist Rosie Redfield from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The science paper by NASA astrobiologist Felisa Wolfe-Simon and her team reported that a type of bacteria in Mono Lake in California can live and grow almost entirely on arsenic, a poison, and incorporates it into its DNA. Redfield called the paper lots of flim-flam, but very little reliable information. Her opinion was quickly seconded by many other biologists/bloggers.