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Studies refute arsenic bug claim
The discovery of a bacterium that could substitute arsenic for phosphorus to survive is refuted by new research.
Six elements are considered essential for life - oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur - so the announcement in 2010 implied one of biology's golden rules had been broken.
The findings provoked an immediate backlash and now two new scientific papers suggest the bacterium needs phosphorus to grow after all.
The studies appear in Science journal.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18770964
