I profoundly disagree with PZ Myers on this. I think he is massively underplaying how big a bit of biological news this is. That a bacterium has successfully evolved a means to substitute one of the absolutely fundamental building blocks of every key cellular mechanism and structure is most certainly a "big whoop".
I agree - I think it is very exciting.
The problem was that there were two successive disappointments: some thought that they were being led to believe that this was going to be about exobiology, and then as a consolation, they thought that a new strain of terrestrial life had been found that used different chemistry to all other life, and so could be evidence of a second abiogenetic event.
Me, knowing all too well how these things pan out, had zero expectations despite the media back-out, and was and still am delighted with this discovery...
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