http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/...c-lake-vostok/
A Russian scientist over the weekend dismissed earlier claims that water pulled from a lake buried for millions of years beneath Antarctica contained a strange new form of microbial life.
A team of Russian scientists reached the surface of the subglacial lake in February, 2012 after more than two decades of drilling, a major achievement hailed by scientists around the world. One goal of the dig was to see whether some strange creatures lived in the water, which hadn't seen light in millions of years.
'We can't say that a previously-unknown bacteria was found.'
- Eukaryote genetics laboratory head Vladimir Korolyov
Such a life form could lead to insights as to what forms life might take on other planets, as well as adding to our knowledge of the varied shapes organisms take here on Earth. On Thursday, Sergei Bulat, a researcher at the Laboratory of Eukaryote Genetics at the St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, claimed victory.
?After excluding all known contaminants?we discovered bacterial DNA that does not match any known species listed in global databanks. We call it unidentified and 'unclassified' life,? Bulat said, according to a story on Russian news wire Ria Novosti.
But on Saturday, Eukaryote genetics laboratory head Vladimir Korolyov told the Interfax news agency that they did not find any life forms -- just contaminants that remained from the drilling process.
"We found certain specimen, although not many, but all of them belonged to contaminants (microorganisms from the bore-hole kerosene, human bodies or the lab). There was one strain of bacteria which we did not find in drilling liquid, but the bacteria could in principal use kerosene as an energy source," Korolyov said.
"That is why we can't say that a previously-unknown bacteria was found," he added.
New samples of water retrieved from Lake Vostok are expected to be delivered to St. Petersburg in May aboard a Russian ship, he added.
"Deepwater devices designed at our institute will be used next year for taking pure water with pure samplers."
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