Comment on “A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus”

Wolfe-Simon et al. (Research Articles, 3 June 2011, p. 1163; published online 2 December 2010) reported that bacterium GFAJ-1 can substitute arsenic for phosphorus in its macromolecules, including DNA and proteins. If such arseno-DNA exists, then much of the past century of work with arsenate and phosphate chemistry, as well as much of what we think we know about metabolism, will need rewriting.