💨 Abstract

In 2025, the journal Science retracted a 2010 study that claimed bacteria in a California lake could use arsenic instead of phosphorus to build DNA and proteins. This finding, if valid, would have widened the known parameters for life on Earth and potentially other planets. However, several research groups failed to replicate the results, and suspect potential contaminants skew the study's findings. The journal's editors decided a retraction was appropriate because of the doubts over the key conclusions.

Courtesy: WTOP Staff