but the specific bacteria they are talking about that was referred to in the conference was induced in a laboratory. They said so rather explicitly in the conference.

""The newly discovered microbe, strain GFAJ-1, is a member of a common group of bacteria, the Gammaproteobacteria. In the laboratory, the researchers successfully grew microbes from the lake on a diet that was very lean on phosphorus, but included generous helpings of arsenic. When researchers removed the phosphorus and replaced it with arsenic the microbes continued to grow. Subsequent analyses indicated that the arsenic was being used to produce the building blocks of new GFAJ-1 cells.""

So there's no "maybe" about it, in this specific reference that is being discussed by the community.