Arsenic-Based Life Forms?

[Reefer4ever]

I was assigned an assignment on this from my biology teacher a month ago on this subject. It is very interesting and there are so many different articles on this one subject. Just google "arsenic organisms" and tons of articles will pop up.

I think most people on here are fairly good in biology and know that the six main elements to all organisms are oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. This proves that there is possibly "alien" species on other planets and moons. With this bacteria being able to accept this normally poisonous element to all life, this is very big. I know I have thought this before "If there is a planet in some other solar system that has the same size/spectrum sun as ours and the planet is the same distance from that sun as we are from our sun and the same elements exist on that planet as our planet, then maybe life can exist somewhere off in space", but now that I have heard of this, and please excuse my french, but that is a huge load of bull****! Maybe oxygen can be replaced by some other element. Phosphorus was substituted for arsenic. Anything goes when there is such a huge universe that anything can happen in. Heck, maybe magic is possible! haha j/k, but seriously! I think you guys see where I'm coming from and where I'm going.

Please comment

Here are a few links:

http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...fe-101202.html

http://www.tbd.com/blogs/weather/201...nets-5394.html

http://www.icr.org/article/5846/

[tebstan]

This proves that there is possibly "alien" species on other planets and moons.

Explain? I'm not saying I disagree with the possibility, just asking you to explain that statement.


I was intrigued when I first heard about the arsenic bacteria. Made me think of the research I did on life in the Dead Sea. It's far from barren, if you look close enough.

[Reefer4ever]

I mean that not all living organisms have to be composed of the same materials as we are. Since arsenic is toxic to us, maybe other elements can be composed into a living organism, right? Maybe some organism use other unusual elements? Other organisms could form from toxic elements if this one can use arsenic. The universe is a big space. Something or someone else could be wondering the same thing. They may think "Were made of helium, aluminum, krypton, einsteinium, and californium. Oxygen may be toxic to everything on our planet, but maybe some other organism needs it to survive." I know I might sound very crazy, but its the truth. It could very well be possible.

[justahobby]

This was an exciting discovery. That discovery does open up a new realm of possibilities to alien life, but the key ingredient is still water. What makes our planet unique is that our solar position allows us to have liquid water. Even on Earth there are deserts that are sterile because they lack any moisture. I'm holding my breath in hopes we go to Europa (one of Jupiter's moons). It has liquid water because of seismic activity from a gravitational tug of war between jupiter and its moon titan.

[kkiel02]

I would bet there is life out there for sure. With such a vast space I find it hard to believe that there isn't. Plus like you said what we believe to be true for us; doesn't make it true for every ecosystem/lifeform out there.

Its going to be fun to look back at what we thought was true/real twenty years from now with all the new discoveries!

I'll be telling my kids "When I was in school we were taught that Pluto was a planet." lol

[allan]

Of course there's life out there. It would be foolish not to accept that. Imperical evidence is all that we need at this point.

We may very well be alone by the sheer distances involved with inter-solar or inter-steller travel, but just because you can't take a jon boat across the atlantic doesn't mean that there isn't life on a distant shore.

I wouldn't even limit your thoughts to those systems where you're looking at only Sol-like stars. I've always considered our gas giants as brown dwarfs themselves, not a scientists so I assume I'm allowed some latitude, as they don't have the mass required for fusion but still put out copious amounts of energy on their own.

As far as Europa is concerned... man, I've been waiting for us to get there for the last thirty years. I believe it was the voyager missions of the '70s that eluded to a briny watery subsurface ocean. They were able to come to that by their van allen belt readings right? I'm going off old information so probably a little off.

Even when we sent the probe to Triton where they have rivers and oceans of liquid helium (?) I was chewing on my nails as to whether they would find microbial life or a walmart around the area where the probe touched down.

In fact they've found subsurface ice on Mars with their latest probe. That's cool because there may be some organizism living deeper, out of reach of the sun's radiation, that could be thriving.

I think we have to put boots on the ground to really get a good idea. And long term, not just long enough to swing a golf club.

BTW, Space.com is an awesome site. I've been going there since the invention of internet. Well, maybe not from the beginning, but definitely for the last ten years.

[CoryDude]

BTW, Space.com is an awesome site. I've been going there since the invention of internet. Well, maybe not from the beginning, but definitely for the last ten years.

Allan, I'm liking you more and more with comments like this. I've been going there since we got our first internet connection years ago.

[allan]

I used to debate on their forums but found the intellect in those rooms had vastly out distanced my own.