title: Comment on "A bacterium that can grow by using arsenic instead of phosphorus".
abstract: Wolfe-Simon et al. (Research Articles, 3 June 2011, p. 1163; published online 2 December 2010) reported that bacterial strain GFAJ-1 can substitute arsenic for phosphorus in its biomolecules, including nucleic acids and proteins. Unfortunately, their study lacks crucial experimental evidence to support this claim and suffers from inadequate data and poor presentation and analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. csabai@pha.jhu.edu
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Csabai
authors.forename: Eörs
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Szathmáry
mesh_terms: D001149:Arsenates / Q000378:metabolism; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry*; D044129:Halomonadaceae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D010710:Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018629:Spectrometry, Mass, Secondary Ion
chemical_list: D001149:Arsenates; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010710:Phosphates; D010758:Phosphorus; D001151:Arsenic; C025657:arsenic acid