# Key Points from the IRC Logs

• NASA announced the discovery of a bacterium (GFAJ-1) that can substitute arsenic for phosphorus in its DNA backbone, challenging conventional understanding of biochemistry requirements for life and prompting technical discussions about sequencing challenges and repair mechanisms.

• Participants discussed cryonics advocacy, lamenting that influential thinkers like Christopher Hitchens (who was ill at the time) weren't promoting cryonics, noting "we keep losing great thinkers" to preventable causes.

• The group managed a Git repository migration for "nanoengineer" from SVN, discussing technical challenges of maintaining file history through directory moves and branches, with particular focus on using Git's `--follow` flag and its limitations.

• Resources for DIY biology were shared, including genspace.org (NYC DIYbio hackerspace) and seqanswers.com (next-generation DNA sequencing community forum), along with molecular modeling tools and algorithmic generation of molecular structures.

• The participants critiqued a transhumanist group called "Congenement" that advocates for genetic enhancement while rejecting cybernetic and robotic augmentation, which members found unnecessarily limiting.

• Information was shared about extreme longevity in nature, specifically Lamellibrachia luymesi, a deep-sea organism that takes 170-250 years to grow 2 meters in length, in the context of broader discussions about immortality resources like fuckdeath.org.