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Fifteen years later, Science retracts 'arsenic life' paper despite study authors' protests
ScienceInsider ^ | July 24, 2025 | Catherine Offord

Posted on 10/07/2025 10:02:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

The retracted study concerned GFAJ-1, a bacterium collected in Mono Lake's arsenic-filled waters by Felisa Wolfe-Simon, then a researcher at the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey. Citing experiments on the microbe, she and colleagues suggested it used the normally toxic element in place of phosphorus to make DNA and proteins. A NASA release claimed the discovery "broadens our thinking about the possibility of life on other planets, and begs a rewrite of biology textbooks." But the work swiftly attracted challenges by other researchers, and attempts to replicate it failed...

After controversy sparked by the paper's online publication delayed its appearance in print, Science ultimately packaged the work in 2011 with eight "technical comments" challenging the paper's conclusions and proposing alternative explanations. The following year, it published two papers suggesting GFAJ-1's growth did require phosphate like other known life and that although the microbe could tolerate arsenic, it didn't incorporate the element into DNA at significant levels. To many, the matter was settled, although some still wanted a retraction and the authors have repeatedly defended their findings. They argue that the 2012 papers didn't faithfully reproduce the original study...

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered literature searches makes this formal act especially important for correcting the scientific record, he argues. "Until you put the word 'retracted' in the title, you don't trigger all of the [AI] tools." (A version of this story appeared in Science, Vol 389, Issue 6758.)

(Excerpt) Read more at science.org ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: ai; arsenic; monolake; oldlace; panspermia; xplanets

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from the FRchives:


1 posted on 10/07/2025 10:02:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: annie laurie; Knitting A Conundrum; Viking2002; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Mmogamer; fragrant abuse; ...
Thanks for the link, dunno who, it wasn't in this file.
· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark ·
· post new topic · subscribe ·
Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar ·
X-Planets

2 posted on 10/07/2025 10:03:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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To: SunkenCiv
"Life will find a way." --Dr. Ian Malcolm

bacteria that uses iron instead of oxygen

3 posted on 10/07/2025 10:09:02 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Je suis Charlie Kirk.)
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To: SunkenCiv

All reputable studies will state if the were peer reviewed and if they were reproduced. Here’s a cuple of site you may find helpfull.

Study Finds.

https://studyfinds.org/

Retraction Watch

https://retractionwatch.com/

All reputable studies will state if the were peer reviewed and if they were reproduced. You can look at the peer review to see if they are reputable. Unfortunately you can no longer assume that any, any new or even some of the older research is valid. The steeple chase to publish and to garner more grant money has tainted real research. Remember “caveat emptor,” or this way to the egress......


4 posted on 10/07/2025 10:29:56 PM PDT by BFW
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To: SunkenCiv
Arsenic - that's how Madam Bovary died.

The most tragic ending outside of a Herman Hesse novel.

5 posted on 10/08/2025 1:20:51 AM PDT by Psalm 73 ("You'll never hear surf music again" - J. Hendrix)
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To: SunkenCiv

It’s in the same group as phosphorus with five electrons in the outer shell.

That’s how these ideas come about. Like carbon and silicon.

But it’s not the same.

I don’t think this was ever a real finding. I’m sure they believed it, not saying it was a hoax. Just bad biochemistry molecular biology.


6 posted on 10/08/2025 1:39:55 AM PDT by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: ifinnegan

Maybe they watched one too many reruns of Star Trek.


7 posted on 10/08/2025 7:16:10 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Thanks.

https://search.brave.com/search?q=algae+that+produce+hydrogen&summary=1

sidebar:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Gorte#Fuel_cells


8 posted on 10/08/2025 7:19:53 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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