Biologists Sequence Genome of Controversial Arsenic Bacterium
Test Bed Wolfe-Simon collecting sediment samples at Mono Lake in 2009 El Universal/Zumapress.com One of the most controversial science stories in recent memory, the saga of arsenic-loving microbes, resurfaced again this week, a year after the initial claims created a media firestorm. Now scientists at the University of Illinois-Chicago have sequenced the genome of the disputed bug, a step toward comparing its genetic predisposition (or lack thereof) to surviving incorporation of a toxic chemical. Simon Silver, a microbiologist at UIC, published the genome of the bacterium known as GFAJ-1, named for Felisa Wolfe-Simon, the scientist who discovered it in a salty California lake. (GFAJ stands for "Give Felisa A Job.") The research team found 3,400 genes in the bug's 3.5 million bases, Simon said. It is available here at Genbank. The genome won't solve the controversy of whether this microbe actually substituted arsenic for phosphorus in its DNA, but it's a...