GFAJ-1

<p>GFAJ-1 is a <a href="/facts/Strain_(biology)/xFv4QWjN">strain</a> of <a href="/facts/Bacillus_(shape)/0rGR5vvU">rod-shaped</a> <a href="/facts/Bacteria/wC8xSCsU">bacteria</a> in the family <a href="/facts/Halomonadaceae/1QXMkySQ">Halomonadaceae</a>. It is an <a href="/facts/Extremophile/JGk1eYCk">extremophile</a> that was isolated from the <a href="/facts/Hypersaline/s6EfQkzE">hypersaline</a> and <a href="/facts/Alkaline/s6NqPGSP">alkaline</a> <a href="/facts/Mono_Lake/4Pq5CmI5">Mono Lake</a> in eastern <a href="/facts/California/zLW2vdQJ">California</a> by geobiologist <a href="/facts/Felisa_Wolfe-Simon/bJz7qvM9">Felisa Wolfe-Simon</a>, a NASA <a href="/facts/Research_fellow/v0wgBCGl">research fellow</a> in residence at the <a href="/facts/US_Geological_Survey/nVaGtMjl">US Geological Survey</a>. In a 2010 <i><a href="/facts/Science_(journal)/uTyzjkwD">Science</a></i> journal publication, the authors claimed that the microbe, when starved of <a href="/facts/Phosphorus/27xCeIqs">phosphorus</a>, is capable of substituting <a href="/facts/Arsenic/k1c4f44D">arsenic</a> for a small percentage of its phosphorus to sustain its growth. Immediately after publication, other microbiologists and biochemists expressed doubt about this claim, which was robustly criticized in the scientific community. Subsequent independent studies published in 2012 found no detectable arsenate in the DNA of GFAJ-1, refuted the claim, and demonstrated that GFAJ-1 is simply an arsenate-resistant, phosphate-dependent organism.
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GFAJ-1 open-in-new

GFAJ-1