Arsenic bacteria: not for cheese

Just a week ago on December 2nd, NASA announced the discovery of "alien life" here on Earth.  While this isn't immediately related to cheese or goats or farming, it does involve bacteria and I'm just really excited.

Photo: PA copied from The Telegraph

These bacteria, called GFAJ-1 of the Halomonadaceae family, are found at the bottom of the very salty and inhospitable Mono Lake in California and are able to use arsenic to construct their membranes and DNA, rather than phosphorus.  To all other life on Earth, arsenic is toxic and phosphorus is primordial for life to exist.  Epic Science Win.  I thought The Telegraph article, here, explained things pretty well.