 In addition they found that the strain did not grow in the presence of arsenate, further supporting the absence of the element and its lack of participation in essential biological processes.Following the publication of the articles challenging the conclusions of the original "Science" article first describing GFAJ-1 the website Retraction Watch argued that the original article should be retracted because of misrepresentation of critical data.As of December 2019, no retraction had been announced.