Scientists said Thursday that they had trained a bacterium to eat and grow on a diet of arsenic, in place of phosphorus — one of six elements considered essential for life — opening up the possibility that organisms could exist elsewhere in the universe or even here on Earth using biochemical powers we have not yet dared to dream about.
Arsenic-Eating Bacteria Force New Thinking on What Constitutes Life | NYT
Absalom, Absalom! 