NASA find of life with toxic arsenic sheds light on Godzilla vs Smog Monster

The NASA announcement that its scientist have found a living microorganism that's "able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic," reminds this blogger of the movie Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster. But before we look at that, let's check the news on this.

Here's the video of the NASA press conference:



According to NASA's website, "The definition of life has just expanded." NASA's Associate Administrator for The Science Mission Directorate, Ed Weller, said "As we pursue our efforts to seek signs of life in the solar system, we have to think more broadly, more diversely and consider life as we do not know it."

According to the website Science Express, which NASA points to as a source for more information on this news, the toxic chemical arsenic apparently has replaced phosphorus, one of the "building block chemicals" thought to be in all organisms, in the DNA of a microorganism discovered in Mono Lake, California. The website reports that NASA astrobiologist Felisa Wolfe-Simon and her team at the US Geological Survey made the discovery.

For humans, arsenic pollution in groundwater has been a major problem. While a naturally occurring element, Arsenic can cause cancer in humans and "cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neurological effects" according to the National Research Council. Moreover, Arsenic is found in cities and areas with smog and industrial emissions, and Mono Lake, which as far back as 2006 and beyond, has been noted for its air pollution problems.

Which brings us to Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster and the idea that we're a giant step closer to science fiction as fact.

Hedorah, or The Smog Monster, is a fictional character in the 1971 movie Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster.  The Smog Monster grew from "microscopic tadpole-like organisms which began to feed upon the toxins with which mankind had poisoned its air and water."

A toxin like arsenic?

At any rate, the Wikipedia description of Hedorah gives a view of The Smog Monster's powers and abilities:

...Hedorah is capable of assuming a number of different shapes to suit the particular situation. For traveling through water, Hedorah transformed into a giant tadpole monster similar to the base organism that composed it. For traveling on land, Hedorah became a four-legged pile of slime resembling a gigantic salamander and it also could assume a saucer-like shape which granted it flight capabilities. After being driven back by Godzilla several times, Hedorah assumed a gigantic humanoid shape that even dwarfed the king of the monsters. Thanks to the protean nature of its body, ordinary weapons passed right through Hedorah while even Godzilla's atomic ray was unable to inflict any lasting harm. Finally, since Hedorah fed on pollution, so long as a piece of it remained alive then Hedorah could retreat to absorb more pollution in order to regenerate itself.

So, a possibility long considered to be far-fetched now has to be reconsidered.  What, with respect to humans on Earth, is the possible logical conclusion of this new discovery?   If a microorganism can exist feeding off a toxic chemical found in smog, what about another organism?

In other words, beyond life from other planets, what kind of new life are we causing to be created right here on Earth?  Life that apparently exists from those chemicals which can kill people.

Stay tuned.