This post will collect links to all the articles discussing the NASA/arsenic life debacle. This topic uses the tag #arseniclife on Twitter. Articles are organized by date within each subcategory. There is another link-dump here, posted Dec. 7 2010, and a Twitter history here.
Some of the back and forth between the authors, NASA, and the critics is discussed in the mainstream articles and in the blogs. The original press release happened Dec 1-2 and the article was published a day later.
A brief summary:
NASA announced a finding with implications for astrobiology and new forms of life. There was speculation about aliens, but when the article came out in Science in December 2010, the findings were simply that there were bacteria that may have incorporated arsenic into their DNA. This would have important implications for the existence of a different sort of biochemistry than is currently known for organisms on Earth. However, almost immediately, microbiologists and other scientists on the Internet began posting blogs and articles critiquing the methods, conclusions, and press release related to the article. NASA and the lead authors responded by refusing to respond, because the critiques were not made in traditional scientific channels. One of the authors eventually responded in a NASA talk, and said that the bacteria were freely available for others to run their own experiments. Many have taken this as an important lesson in the role of the media and on how scientific discussion should or can take place.
(I will add a suggested reads list as I have time.)
Links after the jump…
Original article:
- Wolfe-Simon F, Blum JS, Kulp TR, Gordon GW, Hoeft SE, Pett-Ridge J, Stolz JF, Webb SM, Weber PK, Davies PC, Anbar AD, Oremland RS. 2010. A bacterium that can grow by using arsenic instead of phosphorous. Science Dec 2. PMID 21127214 & DOI 10.1126/science.1197258 (here)
- Elizabeth Pennisi. Dec 3 2010. What poison? Bacterium uses arsenic to build DNA and other molecules. Science 330(6009):1302. DOI 10.1126/science.330.6009.1302 (here)
NASA & Wolfe-Simon et al. original press releases:
- NASA sets news conference on astrobiology discovery. Nov 29 2010. http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/nov/HQ_M10-167_Astrobiology.html
- NASA-funded research discovers life built with toxic chemical. Dec 2 2010. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html
- Tony Phillips. Dec 2 2010. Discovery of “arsenic-bug” expands definition of life. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/02dec_monolake/
A couple of videos of Wolfe-Simon giving an interview here.
Original media coverage (Dec 1-3 2010):
- Paul Sutherland. Dec 1 2010. It’s life, but not as we know it. The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3253913/NASA-researchers-find-life-in-poisonous-arsenic-lake-in-USA.html
- Tom Chivers. Dec 1 2010. Arsenic life-forms in Yosemite: evidence of alien life? Wait and see. The Telegraph. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tomchivers/100049458/arsenic-life-forms-in-yosemite-evidence-of-alien-life-wait-and-see/
- Carl Zimmer. Dec 2 2010. Of arsenic and aliens. The Loom (Discover). http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2010/12/02/of-arsenic-and-aliens/
- Dennis Overbye. Dec 2 2010. Microbe finds arsenic tasty; redefines life. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/science/03arsenic.html
- Olivier Dessibourg. Dec 2 2010. Arsenic-based bacteria point to new life forms. New Scientist. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19805-arsenicbased-bacteria-point-to-new-life-forms.html
- Henry Bortman. Dec 2 2010. How does an arsenic-based life form work, exactly? The Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1202/How-does-an-arsenic-based-life-form-work-exactly
- Richard Webster. Dec 2 2010. NASA discovers new arsenic life form. examiner.com Baltimore. http://www.examiner.com/education-headlines-in-baltimore/nasa-discovers-new-arsenic-life-form
- ScienceDaily. Dec 2 2010. Life built with toxic chemical: first known microbe on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using arsenic. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101202140622.htm
- Rachel Ehrenberg. Dec 2 2010. NASA unveils arsenic life form. Wired. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/nasa-finds-arsenic-life-form/
- “Wavefunction”. Dec 2 2010. Medicine! Poison! Arsenic! Life itself! The Curious Wavefunction. http://wavefunction.fieldofscience.com/2010/12/medicine-poison-life-itself.html
- Charles Q. Choi. Dec 2 2010. Microbe that eats arsenic found. Live Science. http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/bacteria-eats-arsenic-alien-life-101202.html
- John Matson. Dec 2 2010. Poison nil: Mono Lake bacterium exhibits exotic arsenic-driven biological activity. Scientific American. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=arsenic-life
- Irene Klotz. Dec 2 2010. New life form lives on arsenic. Discovery News. http://news.discovery.com/earth/arsenic-bacteria-alien-life.html
- Richard A. Lovett. Dec 2 2010. NASA life discovery: new bacteria makes DNA with arsenic. National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/12/101202-nasa-announcement-arsenic-life-mono-lake-science-space/
- Elizabeth Montalbano. Dec 3 2010. NASA discovers arsenic-fed life form. InformationWeek. http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/enterprise-apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228500210&itc=ref-true
- Tony Hoffman. Dec 3 2010. What NASA’s arsenic life form tells us about aliens. PC Mag. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2373816,00.asp
An additional early response to the original press announcement by Jason Kottke here. Many early announcements are missing here–they are generally very similar and there’s just too many for me to find on my own. However if you have any you think should be added, comment and let me know!
- Greg Laden. Dec 2 2010. NASA’s new organism, the meaning of life, and Darwin’s Second Theory. Greg Laden’s Blog. http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2010/12/nasas_new_organism_the_meaning.php
- PZ Myers. Dec 2 2010. It’s not an arsenic-based life form. Pharyngula. http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/12/its_not_an_arsenic-based_life.php
- Derek Lowe. Dec 2 2010. Life with arsenic: who’d have thought? In the Pipeline. http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/12/02/life_with_arsenic_whod_have_thought.php
- CWGK. Dec 2 2010. Arsenic life – ZOMG! The straight dope on arsenic and extremophiles. In Vivo. http://cwgk.blogspot.com/2010/12/arsenic-life-zomg-straight-dope-on.html
- Athena Andreadis. Dec 2 2010. Arsenic and odd lace. Astrogator’s Logs. http://www.starshipreckless.com/blog/?p=3544
- Paul Bracher. Dec 3 2010. Preliminary thoughts on the “arsenic-based life” paper. ChemBark. http://blog.chembark.com/2010/12/03/preliminary-thoughts-on-the-arsenic-based-life-paper/
- Jim Hu. Dec 3 2010. Ordinary evidence would do (parts 1 and 2). Blogs for Industry. http://dimer.tamu.edu/simplog/archive.php?blogid=3&pid=6940 and http://dimer.tamu.edu/simplog/archive.php?blogid=3&pid=6941
- Rosie Redfield. Dec 4 2010. Arsenic-associated bacteria (NASA’s claims). RRResearch Blog. http://rrresearch.blogspot.com/2010/12/arsenic-associated-bacteria-nasas.html
- John Hawks. Dec ? 2010. Alien biology hype. Johns Hawks Weblog. http://johnhawks.net/node/15099
- Alex Bradley. Dec 5 2010. Arsenate-based DNA: a big idea with big holes. We, Beasties. http://scienceblogs.com/webeasties/2010/12/guest_post_arsenate-based_dna.php
- Laura Landweber. Dec 6 2010. A bacterium that can grow by using arsenic instead of phosphorous; evaluations. Faculty of 1000. http://f1000.com/6854956?key=y11r1klww5vkfxh
- Derek Lowe. Dec 7 2010. Arsenic bacteria: does the evidence hold up? The Pipeline. http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/12/07/arsenic_bacteria_does_the_evidence_hold_up.php
- Carl Zimmer. Dec 8 2010. Of arsenic and aliens: what the critics said. The Loom. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2010/12/08/of-arsenic-and-aliens-what-the-critics-said/
- Rosie Redfield. Dec 8 2010. My letter to Science. RRResearch Blog. http://rrresearch.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-letter-to-science.html
- Paul Bracher. Dec 8 2010. Albert Eschenmoser and I had arsenic for lunch. ChemBark. http://blog.chembark.com/2010/12/08/albert-eschenmoser-and-i-had-arsenic-for-lunch/
- Athena Andreadis. Dec 12 2010. The agency that cried “Awesome!”. Astrogator’s Logs. http://www.starshipreckless.com/blog/?p=3668
- Sandra Porter. Dec 14 2010. Where can we find arsenic in a DNA structure? Discovering Biology in a Digital World. http://scienceblogs.com/digitalbio/2010/12/where_can_we_find_arsenic_in_a.php
- Clint Talbott. Dec ? 2010. It came from Mono Lake. Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine. http://artsandsciences.colorado.edu/magazine/2010/12/it-came-from-mono-lake/
Responses to the press release/debate:
- Daniel Ocampo Daza. Dec 3? 2010. My summary of NASA’s arsenic-thriving bacteria story. Ergo sum Daniel. http://egosumdaniel.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-summary-of-nasas-arsenic-thriving.html
- Jim Hu. Dec 6 2010. NASA’s arsenic story continues. Blogs for Industry. http://dimer.tamu.edu/simplog/archive.php?blogid=3&pid=6943
- Daniel Ocampo Daza. Dec 7 2010. Falsehood associated with the arsenic-thriving bacteria study: what it is and what it isn’t. Ergo sum Daniel. http://egosumdaniel.blogspot.com/2010/12/falsehoods-associated-with-arsenic.html
- Ivan Oransky. Dec 7 2010. An arsenic bacteria postmortem: NASA responds, tries to pit blogs vs. “credible media organizations”. Embargo Watch. http://embargowatch.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/an-arsenic-bacteria-postmortem-nasa-responds-tries-to-pit-blogs-vs-credible-media-organizations/
- Chris Rowan. Dec 7 2010. Hey NASA: this is what peer review actually looks like. Allochthonous Highly. http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2010/12/hey-nasa-this-is-what-peer-review-actually-looks-like/
- Deepak Singh. Dec 7 2010. Not getting it. business|bytes|genes|molecules. http://mndoci.com/2010/12/07/not-getting-it/
- Grant Jacobs. Dec 7 2010. NASA: science shouldn’t be debated in media and blogs?! Code for life. http://sciblogs.co.nz/code-for-life/2010/12/07/nasa-science-shouldn%E2%80%99t-be-debated-in-media-and-blogs/
- Annalee Newitz. Dec 7 2010. Was the arsenic life form announcement just a NASA publicity stunt? io9. http://io9.com/5708505/was-the-arsenic-life-form-announcement-just-a-nasa-publicity-stunt
- Ivan Oransky. Dec 8 2010. Did NASA follow its own code of conduct in announcing the arsenic bacteria study? (Hint: No). Embargo Watch. http://embargowatch.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/did-nasa-follow-its-own-code-of-conduct-in-announcing-the-arsenic-bacteria-study-hint-no/
- David Kroll. Dec 8 2010. Post-publication peer review in public: poison or progress? Central Science (Chemical and Engineering News). http://cenblog.org/terra-sigillata/2010/12/08/post-publication-peer-review-in-public-poison-or-progress/
- “Prof-like Substance”. Dec 8 2010. Scientific dissention: shouldn’t we all be nice? The Spandrel Shop. http://scientopia.org/blogs/proflikesubstance/2010/12/08/scientific-dissention-shouldnt-we-all-be-nice/
- “Isis the Scientist”. Dec 9 2010. Don’t like arsenic bacteria? Put your experiment where your mouth is! On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess. http://scienceblogs.com/isisthescientist/2010/12/dont_like_arsenic_bacteria_put.php
- Denise Graveline. Dec 9 2010. 7 savvy ways to incorporate bloggers into your media relations: anti-lessons from #arseniclife. Don’t Get Caught. http://www.dontgetcaught.biz/2010/12/7-savvy-ways-to-incorporate-bloggers-in.html
- Michele Arduengo. Dec 9 2010. A teachable moment in science communication. Promega Connections. http://promega.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/a-teachable-moment-in-science-communication/
- “Wavefunction”. Dec 9 2010. Aliens, arsenic, and alternative peer review: has science publishing become too conservative? The Curious Wavefunction. http://wavefunction.fieldofscience.com/2010/12/aliens-arsenic-and-alternative-peer.html
- Zen Faulkes. Dec 9 2010. GFAJ-1: get fighting and jousting! NeuroDojo. http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2010/12/gfaj-1-get-fighting-and-jousting.html
- Jennifer Frazer. Dec 9 2010. Of arsenic, slime molds, and life on other worlds. The Artful Amoeba. http://theartfulamoeba.com/2010/12/09/of-arsenic-slime-molds-and-life-on-other-worlds/
- Bonnie Swoger. Dec 10 2010. Using the ‘arsenic bacteria’ story as a teaching moment for undergraduates. The Undergraduate Science Librarian. http://undergraduatesciencelibrarian.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/using-the-arsenic-bacteria-story-as-a-teaching-moment-for-undergraduates/
- “Monotreme”. Dec 10 2010. Arsenic and old wounds. 538 Refugees. http://538refugees.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/arsenic-and-old-wounds/
- Hannah Waters. Dec 16 2010. Purpose in scientific research. Culturing Science. http://culturingscience.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/purpose-in-scientific-research/
- David Dobbs. Dec 17 2010. A funny arsenic smell upstream–what questions is it fair to ask about squishy science? Neuron Culture (Wired). http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/a-funny-arsenic-smell-upstream-%E2%80%94-what-questions-is-it-fair-to-ask-about-squishy-science/
- Dan Vergano. Dec 26 2010. Arsenic microbe answers a long way off. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2010-12-26-arsenic-microbe_N.htm
- “group”. Dec 29 2010. Science is self-correcting: lessons from the arsenic controversy. RealClimate. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/12/science-is-self-correcting-lessons-from-the-arsenic-controversy/
- Marie-Claire Shanahan. Jan 13 2011. An arsenic-laced bad-news letter: who is the audience for online post-publication peer review? Scientific American. http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=an-arsenic-laced-bad-news-letter-wh-2011-01-13
Note: Ivan Oransky has additional posts at Embargo Watch on the embargo of the article under the tag “nonalienembargo”, here. These are not directly related to the issues in the press release itself or the criticisms of the article, so I won’t list them out here.
Responses by NASA & Wolfe-Simon to bloggers (also reported in the mainstream media and blogs):
- Felisa Wolfe-Simon. 5 Dec 2010. “Discussion about scientific details MUST be within a scientific venue so that we can come back to the public with a unified understanding.” http://twitter.com/#!/ironlisa/status/11579028288839680
- Felisa Wolfe-Simon. 8 Dec 2010. Wolfe-Simon et al comment. http://www.ironlisa.com/gfaj/
- Felisa Wolfe-Simon. 16 Dec 2010. Response to questions concerning the Science article, “A bacterium that can grow by using arsenic instead of phosphorous”. http://ironlisa.com/gfaj/GFAJquestions_Response_16Dec2010.pdf (also mentioned on USA Today here and on a blog here)
- Elizabeth Pennisi. 20 Dec 2010. Exclusive interview: discoverer of arsenic bacteria, in the eye of the storm. Science. http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/12/arsenic-researcher-asks-for-time.html
Responses to Wolfe-Simon et al.‘s FAQ and December 16 panel (including some reviews):
- Rosie Redfield. Dec 16 2010. text? RRResearch. http://rrresearch.blogspot.com/2010/12/text.html
- Rosie Redfield. Dec 17 2010. Yet another reason why the Wolfe-Simon conclusion is so improbable. RRResearch. http://rrresearch.blogspot.com/2010/12/yet-another-reason-why-wolfe-simon.html
- Marc Kaufman. Dec 17 2010. Study on arsenic-based life trounced on blogosphere. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/16/AR2010121607735.html
- Rudy Baum. Dec 17 2010. Confused about arsenic. Central Science, The Editor’s Blog (Chemical and Engineering News). http://cenblog.org/the-editors-blog/2010/12/confused-about-arsenic/
- Faye Flam. Dec 17 2010. Backing off an arsenic-eating claim. The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20101217_Backing_off_an_arsenic-eating_claim.html
- Zachary Knight. Dec 18 2010. Response to the Critics. second messenger. http://chemicalphysiology.blogspot.com/2010/12/response-to-critics.html
- Nicholas Deleon. Dec 21 2010. ‘New life’ scientists defend study, say more information is forthcoming. Crunch Gear. http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/12/21/new-life-scientists-defend-study-say-more-information-is-forthcoming/
Mainstream media/general news & reviews after the fact (including details of NASA and Wolfe-Simon et al.‘s response):
- Guardian.co.uk Story Tracker, Nasa dismisses criticism of arsenic bacteria research. (updated regularly) http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/dec/02/nasa-life-form-bacteria-arsenic
- David Dobbs. Dec 2 2010. The real scoop on aliens oops arsenic in old lakes. Neuron Culture (Wired). http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/the-real-scoop-on-aliens-oops-arsenic-in-old-lakes/
- Lewis Dartnell. Dec 3 2010. Arsenic, bacteria and alien life: lessons from an internet frenzy. The Guardian Notes & Dispatches from the Science Desk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2010/dec/03/arsenic-bacteria-alien-life
- Matthew Herper. Dec 3 2010. Why those cool arsenic bacteria are not a new form of life. The Medicine Show (Forbes). http://blogs.forbes.com/matthewherper/2010/12/03/why-those-cool-arsenic-bacteria-are-not-a-new-form-of-life/
- Arunn. Dec 3 2010. Arsenic is the new DNA lace. nOno Science. http://www.nonoscience.info/2010/12/03/arsenic-is-the-new-dna-lace/
- Ed Yong. Dec 4 2010. Mono Lake bacteria build their DNA using arsenic (and no, this isn’t about aliens). Not Rocket Science (Discover). http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/12/02/mono-lake-bacteria-build-their-dna-using-arsenic-and-no-this-isnt-about-aliens/
- CBC News. Dec 6 2010. NASA’s arsenic microbe science slammed. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/12/06/arsenic-microbe-dna-nasa-wolfe-simon.html
- Carl Zimmer. Dec 7 2010. “This paper should not have been published.” Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2276919/
- Alla Katsnelson. Dec 7 2010. Microbe gets toxic response. Nature 468(741). DOI 10.1038/468741a (here)
- David Dobbs. Dec 7 2010. The wrong stuff: NASA dismisses arsenic critique because critical priest not standing on altar. Neuron Culture (Wired). http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/the-wrong-stuff-nasa-dismisses-arsenic-critique-because-critical-priest-not-standing-on-altar/
- Curtis Brainard. Dec 7 2010. The right place for scientific debate? The Observatory (Columbia Journalism Review). http://www.cjr.org/the_observatory/the_right_place_for_scientific.php
- Richard P. Grant. Dec 7 2010. Heavy metal. Naturally Selected (The Scientist). http://blog.the-scientist.com/2010/12/07/heavy-metal/
- Lisa Grossman. Dec 7 2010. Doubts brew about NASA’s new arsenic life. Wired. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/arsenic-life-under-fire/
- Joe Bauman. Dec 7 2010. The meaning of ‘life’. Deseret News. http://archive.deseretnews.com/blog/47/10010980/Nightly-news-astronomy-The-Meaning-of–Life.html
- Martin Robbins. Dec 8 2010. Arsenic about face. The Lay Scientist (The Guardian). http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-lay-scientist/2010/dec/08/2
- Rebecca Boyle. Dec 8 2010. NASA’s arsenic-loving bacteria don’t love arsenic after all, critics say. Popular Science. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-12/nasas-arsenic-loving-bacteria-doesnt-love-arsenic-after-all-critics-say
- New Scientist. Dec 8 2010. Curb your enthusiasm for aliens, NASA. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827902.100-curb-your-enthusiasm-for-aliens-nasa.html
- Carmen Drahl. Dec 8 2010. Arsenic bacteria breed backlash. Chemical & Engineering News. http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/88/i50/8850news6.html
- Lin Edwards. Dec 9 2010. Critics raise doubts on NASA’s arsenic bacteria. Physorg.com http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-critics-nasa-arsenic-bacteria.html
- Jeremy Hsu. Dec 9 2010. Q&A: ‘Science’ journal official talks about arsenic-based life. Live Science. http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/qa-arsenic-life-journal-science-101209.html
- Ed Yong. Dec 10 2010. Arsenic bacteria – a post-mortem, a review, and some navel-gazing. Not Exactly Rocket Science (Discover). http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/12/10/arsenic-bacteria-a-post-mortem-a-review-and-some-navel-gazing/
- Tabitha M. Powledge. Dec 10 2010. On science blogs this week: arsenic bugging. National Association of Science Writers. http://www.nasw.org/science-blogs-week-arsenic-bugging
- Ned Potter. Dec 10 2010. Alien life? NASA-funded study questioned. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/nasa-study-finds-life-survives-arsenic-scientists-question/story?id=12355550 (and Rosie Redfield’s apology to Dr. Wolfe-Simon for the tone of her comments here)
- Daniel Dobbs. Dec 13 2010. Arsenic and primordial ooze: a history lesson. Neuron Culture (Wired). http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/arsenic-and-primordial-ooze-a-history-lesson/
- Dennis Overbye. Dec 13 2010. Poisoned debate encircles a microbe study’s result. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/science/14arsenic.html
- David Kroll. Dec 14 2010. Just to be clear: Ed Yong does read the primary literature. Take as Directed (PLoS Blogs). http://blogs.plos.org/takeasdirected/2010/12/14/just-to-be-clear-ed-yong-does-read-the-primary-literature/
- Nature. Dec 15 2010. Response required. Nature 468(867). DOI 10.1038/468867a (here)
- Kate Lunau. Dec 16 2010. It’s life, but not as we know it. MacLeans.ca. http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/12/16/its-life-but-not-as-we-know-it/
- Hannah Waters. Dec 16 2010. The arsenic post I never wrote. Culturing Science. http://culturingscience.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/the-arsenic-post-i-never-wrote/
- AFP. Dec 16 2010. NASA’s arsenic life-form scientist answers critics. Physorg.com. http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-nasa-arsenic-life-form-scientist-critics.html (also published here)
- Christina Reed. Dec 17 2010. Arsenic life form scientist answers critics. Discovery News. http://news.discovery.com/earth/arsenic-life-form-scientist-answers-critics.html
- Jeremy Hsu. Dec 17 2010. Arsenic bacteria controversy gets a postmortem. LiveScience. http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/arsenic-bacteria-controversy-debate-101217.html
- Kent Holsinger. Dec 17 2010. Arsenic-based life and common grown. Uncommon Ground. http://darwin.eeb.uconn.edu/uncommon-ground/2010/12/arsenic-based-life-and-public-science.html
- Ed Yong. Dec 18 2010. Arsenic bacteria 4: the quest for peace. Not Exactly Rocket Science (Discover). http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/12/18/arsenic-bacteria-4-the-quest-for-peace/
- Arunn. Dec 21 2010. Post arsenic-bacteria post. nOno Science. http://www.nonoscience.info/2010/12/21/post-arsenic-bacteria-post/
- Marianne LeVinne. Jan 12 2011. Professors weigh in on controversial paper. The Stanford Daily. http://www.stanforddaily.com/2011/01/12/professors-weigh-in-on-controversial-paper/
- Michael Schirber. Feb 18 2011. Definition of life: arsenic debate just won’t die. MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41669973/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/definition-life-arsenic-debate-just-wont-die/#.TsbjBnP4Gk8
Post-December reviews, responses, follow-up:
- Silver S, Phung LT. 2011. Novel expansion of living chemistry or just a serious mistake? FEMS Microbiology Letters 315(2):79-80. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6968.2010.02202.x
- Zen Faulkes. March 08 2011. Arsenic life, four months later: pay no attention to the internet. NeuroDojo. http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2011/03/arsenic-life-four-months-later-pay-no.html
- Rosen BP, Ajees AA, McDermott TR. 2011. Life and death with arsenic. Bioessays. doi:10.1002/bies.201100012
- Zen Faulkes. March 18 2011. Arsenic life, four months (and a bit) later: Reviewers with shovels. NeuroDojo. http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2011/03/arsenic-life-four-months-and-bit-later.html
- Michael Eisen. March 18 2011. Felisa Wolfe-Simon (of arsenic infamy) is no more convincing in person than in print. it is NOT junk. http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=346
- Alan Boyle. May 27 2011. Arsenic-life debate hits new level. Cosmic Log (MSNB). http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/27/6730755-arsenic-life-debate-hits-a-new-level
- Brian Vastag. May 27 2011. Debate over arsenic life enters new chapter. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/debate-over-arsenic-based-life-enters-a-new-chapter/2011/05/26/AGhk7fCH_story.html
- Carl Zimmer. May 27 2011. The discovery of arsenic-based Twitter; how #arseniclife changed science. Slate. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2011/05/the_discovery_of_arsenicbased_twitter.html
- Irene Klotz. May 31 2011. Arsenic life: fact or fiction? http://news.discovery.com/space/arsenic-life-microbe-debate-110531.html
- Jessica P. Johnson. Jun 2 2011. Arsenic-based life debate continues. The Scientist. http://classic.the-scientist.com/news/display/58190/
- Tom Clynes. Sep 26 2011. Scientist in a strange land. Popular Science. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-09/scientist-strange-land
- David Dobbs. Sep 29 2011. Arsenic is life and the view from nowhere. Neuron Culture (Wired). http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/09/cutting-to-the-chase-on-the-arsenic-paper/
- Carl Zimmer. Sep 30 2011. #ArsenicLife goes longform and history gets squished. The Loom (Discover). http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/09/30/arseniclife-goes-longform-and-history-gets-squished/
- Carl Zimmer. Oct 1 2011. Tom Clynes on arsenic life. The Loom (Discover). http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/10/01/tom-clynes-on-arsenic-life/
- Alan Boyle. Dec 2 2011. ‘Arsenic life’ debate still percolates. Cosmic Log (MSNBC). http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/02/9168255-arsenic-life-debate-still-percolates
- Erica Check Hayden. Jun 1 2011. Will you take the ‘arsenic-life’ test? Nature 474(19). DOI: 10.1038/474019a (here)
- Rosie Redfield. (Ongoing – a public attempt to replicate and test Wolfe-Simon et al.‘s original findings). RRResearch. http://rrresearch.fieldofscience.com/search/label/%23arseniclife
- Erica Check Hayden. Aug 9 2011. Open research casts doubt on arsenic life. Nature DOI: 10.1038/news.2011.469 (here)
- Nancy Atkinson. Aug 10 2011. Replication of arsenic life experiment not successful so far. Universe Today. http://www.universetoday.com/88079/replication-of-arsenic-life-experiment-not-successful-so-far/
Some Intelligent Design/Creationism comments & the responses to them:
- Robert Sheldon. Dec 8 2010. Arsenic life reax. The Procrustean. http://procrustes.blogtownhall.com/2010/12/08/alien_life_reax.thtml
- “Naon Tiotami”. Dec 9 2010. Robert Sheldon, ID proponent, defending the arsenic bacteria paper? Oh god. Homologous Legs. http://www.naontiotami.com/2010/12/robert-sheldon-id-proponent-defending-the-arsenic-bacteria-paper-oh-dear-god/
- Institute for Creation Research. Dec 18 2010. Hyped arsenic bacteria research ‘should not have been published’. Creation Revolution. http://creationrevolution.com/2010/12/hyped-arsenic-bacteria-research-should-not-have-been-published/
And a bit of random here.
Also related, but in a different way:
- Carl Zimmer. July 6 2011. Last year: arsenic life. This year: chlorine life? The Loom (Discover). http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/07/06/last-year-arsenic-life-this-year-chlorine-life/
This covers everything I have until now, but I may have missed something. There’s quite a LOT of blog and news posts about this. Please feel free to add new links in the comments, and I’ll add them in as I have time. Also please let me know if there are any broken links. I will keep this as updated as possible.
Last update: December 2, 2011
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