Arsenic Based Life

If you haven’t already heard, a major breakthrough in the field of astrobiology just occurred. Arsenic was thought to be toxic to every organism on earth because enzymes mistake it for phosphate, causing them to build faulty proteins and DNA. Researchers now have discovered a bacterium that can survive with Arsenic replacing all Phosphate in the cell. There was thought to be 6 elements essential to life, now there are a maximum of 5. This means that 1 fewer element needs to be present on an alien planet for life to form. I’ve had astronomers tell me that they realistically think alien life will be discovered in the next 20 years. With the combination of this discovery and the discovery of the habitable “goldilocks” planet just a few months ago, it seems like they are being proven right.