Not everyone is thrilled with NASA’s recent discovery of a new type of bacteria.

Mono Lake, CA (credit: NASA)
NASA’s research was published in the journal Science, among others. After reading the research, Rosie Redfield, a microbiology professor at the University of British Columbia, was “outraged at how bad the science was.”
In an article entitled “Arsenate-based DNA: a big idea with big holes” posted on a science blog, Harvard microbiologist Alex Bradley states, “The study published in Science has a number of flaws. In particular, one subtle but critical piece of evidence has been overlooked, and it demonstrates that the DNA in question actually has a phosphate – not an arsenate -backbone.”
While some scientists are criticizing the results of NASA’s study, others are wondering why NASA would create so much hype over a potentially flawed study. John Roth of UC-Davis speculates “that NASA may be so desperate for a positive story that they didn’t look for any serious advice from DNA or even microbiology people.”