We are always on the look out for a new form of life to which we can extend our dominion over…….and so the scientist search and search and look and look….and all their hard work has found a……you guessed it!….A new life  form!

Leave it to the Rocket Scientists at NASA……..

In a press conference held at NASA’s Washington D.C. headquarters, scientists announced that they had discovered a new form of bacteria, known as GFAJ-1, in California’s Mono Lake that has DNA completely foreign to anything ever before found on Earth. It substitutes arsenic at the DNA level for phosphorus.

That would distinguish it from every other form of life known to man, all of which, no matter how diverse, is comprised of the same six elements, phosphorus, sulfur, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. But the bacteria found in Mono Lake–which is known for its unusual chemistry, including very high levels of salinity, alkalinity, and arsenic–is made partly of arsenic, and has no phosphorus in its DNA.

NASA feels that this discovery is important because it will help scientists with many areas of future research, such as the “study of Earth’s evolution, organic chemistry, biogeochemical cycles, disease mitigation, and Earth system research. These findings also will open up new frontiers in microbiology and other areas of research.” 

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20024450-52.html#ixzz16zQOlMBr