In December 2010, NASA’s press conference sparked global attention when researcher Felisa Wolfe-Simon announced finding bacteria that could use arsenic instead of phosphorus – a claim that would rewrite biology textbooks. The bacterium, named GFAJ-1, came from California’s Mono Lake, where water is nearly three times saltier than the Pacific Ocean and has the pH level of glass cleaner. “We’ve cracked open the door to what’s possible for life elsewhere in the universe,” Wolfe-Simon declared at NASA Headquarters. The announcement followed NASA’s teaser about “an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.” The research, published … Continue reading NASA’s $500K ‘Arsenic Life’ Study Faces Retraction Amid Social Media Backlash