Mono Lake: Home to the Strange Microbe GFAJ 1 . ... An indication that the fundamental elements that compose most terrestrial life forms might differ out in the universe was found in unusual Mono Lake in California , USA. Bacteria in Mono's lakebed gives indications that it not only can tolerate a large abundance of normally toxic arsenic , but possibly use arsenic as a replacement for phosphorous , an element needed by every other known Earth-based life form. ... NASA Official: Jay Norris. ...