Hyderabad, Dec.

Washington: Lurking in the depths of a California lake, researchers found a bacteria that can thrive on arsenic, an explosive discovery that could expand the search for other life on Earth and beyond.

The Nasa-funded findings redefines what science considers the necessary elements for life, currently viewed as: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous and sulfur.

Tezpur: Arsenic and fluoride existing in ground water in Assam's Sonitpur district has claimed five lives and caused several others to suffer from related diseases like stomach disorder, kidney and heart problems.

Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI) has taken up a project to identify people affected by arsenic contamination in Karimpur area of Nadia. It would tap the contamination in the cells of these people and gauge the extent of damage.

The state government admitted in Vidhan Sabha on Monday that ground water in three districts had arsenic which was posing health hazards to the people of that region.

Research on to minimise harmful effects
Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 1

Researchers have pinpointed the source of what is probably the worst mass poisoning in history, according to a study published on Sunday.

For nearly three decades scientists have struggled to figure out exactly how arsenic was getting into the drinking water of millions of people in rural Bangladesh.