Kenneth Stedman, Department of Biology, Portland State University
The news from Mono Lake, where the conditions are extreme, the researchers are opinionated, and the microbes are all above average
Abstract: On Dec. 2, 2010, NASA held a news conference on "The Discovery of New Life" (announced about a week earlier) in which researchers from the USGS and NASA Astrobiology Institute described a newly "discovered" microbe that these researchers concluded uses Arsenic instead of Phosphate in its biological molecules, including DNA. The online "buzz" regarding this announcement was tremendous and highly speculative, most thought that there would be an announcement of life discovered beyond earth. A paper was published simultaneously with the news conference in Science. The stated results which would "alter biology textbooks" were met with considerable skepticism. This skepticism has circulated on the since the Dec. 2 2010 news conference and publication. I will review some basic molecular biology, follow with a description of the unique ecosystem from which the microorganisms were isolated, discuss the claims of the researchers, followed by the data presented and the follow-up discussion, including the nature of scientific disclosure
