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Russian researchers have found previously-unknown bacteria in waters of the unique sub-glacial Lake Vostok, isolated by 4km-thick layer of ice for around the past 20 million years. Now it could offer an incredible insight into our planet’s past.
“The last analysis was completed a week ago - there will be another, but the results are unlikely to change anything. After exclusion of all known contaminants - extraneous organisms - bacterial DNA was detected, which does not coincide with any of the known species in the world,” RIA Novosti quotes Sergey Bulat of the St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in Russia.
All water samples will be brought to St. Petersburg in May on board the research ship Academic Fyodorov, which is currently working in the Antarctic.
“The last analysis was completed a week ago - there will be another, but the results are unlikely to change anything. After exclusion of all known contaminants - extraneous organisms - bacterial DNA was detected, which does not coincide with any of the known species in the world,” RIA Novosti quotes Sergey Bulat of the St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in Russia.
Originally posted by PhoenixOD
Before anyone start claiming that this is evidence of alien life realize that this is just an unknown 'class' of bacteria at this stage. It is not evidence of a second occurrence of abiogenesis, at least not so far. This just proves that the original set of DNA that started off life on this planet is very adaptable.
Originally posted by Senduko
reply to post by Aleister
Its a double sided sword agreed, however risks like these are needed to advance.
Its to early to comment much...
Originally posted by TDawgRex
reply to post by Senduko
I don't see why they have to bring it to a populated continent. Haven't they ever watch Sci-Fi?
I thought that there were some pretty fancy labs in Antartica that could perform experiments without risking the rest of the world.
Originally posted by Senduko
Originally posted by PhoenixOD
Before anyone start claiming that this is evidence of alien life realize that this is just an unknown 'class' of bacteria at this stage. It is not evidence of a second occurrence of abiogenesis, at least not so far. This just proves that the original set of DNA that started off life on this planet is very adaptable.
By definition its Alien. Alien doesn't mean it has to come from space.
Originally posted by TrueBrit
reply to post by DarKPenguiN
Can anyone explain to me what the obssession is lately with everyone blathering on about some zombie plauge? I mean, such a thing has NEVER happened before, certainly not as a dead certain result of a bacterial or virus based illness. Rabies is about the closest you get, and still not the same thing.
Zombie in the traditional movie sense, means that the sufferer is:
a) Already dead, having been killed by infection with the sickness that creates zombies.
b) Cannot be incapacitated unless beheaded, shot in the head, or having its central nervous system blown out in some way.
c) Creates further zombies by biting the uninfected.
d) Is ripe for having a piano dropped on its head by a middle aged woman.
If the issue creates any other circumstance, then you do not have a zombie issue. So anyway, whats the rub here? Why all the chatter on this subject?
However, the discovery turns out not to be that sensational.
“There has been one strain of bacteria which we did not find in drilling liquid, but these bacteria could in principal use kerosene as an energy source,” the head of the laboratory of the same institution, Vladimir Korolev said. "That is why we can’t say that a previously-unknown bacteria was found,” he stressed.