Posted on 12/29/2021 5:57:37 AM PST by Red Badger
A summary of decades of research on a rather 'out-there' idea involving viruses from space raises questions on just how scientific we can be when it comes to speculating on the history of life on Earth.
It's easy to throw around words like crackpot, rogue, and maverick in describing the scientific fringe, but then papers like this one, from 2018, come along and leave us blinking owlishly, unsure of where to even begin.
A total of 33 names were listed as authors on this review, which was published by Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology back in August 2018. The journal is peer reviewed and fairly well cited. So it's not exactly small, or a niche pay-for-publish source.
Science writer Stephen Fleischfresser goes into depth on the background of two of the better known scientists involved: Edward Steele and Chandra Wickramasinghe. It's well worth a read.
For a tl;dr version, Steele is an immunologist who has a fringe reputation for his views on evolution that relies on acquiring gene changes determined by the influence of the environment rather than random mutations, in what he calls meta-Lamarckism.
Wickramasinghe, on the other hand, has had a somewhat less controversial career, recognized for empirically confirming Sir Fred Hoyle's hypothesis describing the production of complex carbon molecules on interstellar dust.
Wickramasinghe and Hoyle also happened to be responsible for another space biology thesis. Only this one is based on more than just the origins of organic chemistry.
The Hoyle Wickramasinghe (H-W) thesis of Cometary (Cosmic) Biology makes the rather simple claim that the direction of evolution has been significantly affected by biochemistry that didn't start on our planet.
In Wickramasinghe's own words, "Comets are the carriers and distributors of life in the cosmos, and life on Earth arose and developed as a result of cometary inputs."
Those inputs, Wickramasinghe argued, aren't limited to a generous sprinkling of space-baked amino acids, either.
Rather, they include viruses that insert themselves into organisms, pushing their evolution into whole new directions.
The report, titled "Cause of Cambrian Explosion – Terrestrial or Cosmic?", pulls on existing research to conclude that a rain of extra-terrestrial retroviruses played a key role in the diversification of life in our oceans roughly half a billion years ago.
"Thus retroviruses and other viruses hypothesized to be liberated in cometary debris trails both can potentially add new DNA sequences to terrestrial genomes and drive further mutagenic change within somatic and germline genomes," the authors wrote.
Let that sink in for a moment. And take a deep breath before continuing, because that was the tame part.
It was during this period that a group of mollusks known as cephalopods first stretched out their tentacles from beneath their shells, branching into a stunning array of sizes and shapes in what seemed like a remarkably short time frame.
The genetics of these organisms, which today include octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish, are as weird as the animals themselves, due in part to their ability to edit their DNA on the fly.
The authors of the paper make the rather audacious claim that these genetic oddities might be a sign of life from space.
Not of space viruses this time, but the arrival of whole genomes frozen in stasis before thawing out in our tepid waters.
"Thus the possibility that cryopreserved squid and/or octopus eggs, arrived in icy bolides several hundred million years ago should not be discounted," they wrote.
In his review of the paper, medical researcher Keith Baverstock from the University of Eastern Finland conceded that there's a lot of evidence that plausibly aligns with the H-W thesis, such as the curious timeline of the appearance of viruses.
But that's just not how science advances.
"I believe this paper justifies skepticism of the scientific value of stand alone theories of the origin of life," Baverstock argued at the time.
"The weight of plausible, but non-definitive, evidence, great though that might be, is not the point."
While the idea is as novel and exciting as it is provocative, nothing in the summary helps us better understand the history of life on Earth any better than existing conjectures, adding little of value to our model of evolution.
Still, with solid caveats in place, maybe science can cope with a generous dose of crazy every now and then.
Journal editor Denis Noble concedes that 'further research is needed', which is a bit of an understatement.
But given the developments regarding space-based organic chemistry in recent years, there's room for discussion.
"As space chemistry and biology grows in importance it is appropriate for a journal devoted to the interface between physics and biology to encourage the debates," said Noble.
"In the future, the ideas will surely become testable."
Just in case those tests confirm speculations, we recommend being well prepared for the return of our cephalopod overlords. Who knows when they'll want those eggs back?
This research was published in Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology.
A version of this article was first published in August 2018.
All I see is a matrix of squares.
Are there supposed to be some letters there?
Not when they’re “shared.” Don’t want everyone to “cheat!”
I don’t share mine, just how many lines it takes to solve it.
Careful there...Heard there was a warning about Chinese Huawei-a-whack virus...makes your phone play loop of The Lion Sleeps Tonight Huawei-a-whack Huawei-a-whack...
maybe just a light dusting for the cat...
If it was John Candy, it had to be good.
You’re supposed to add them, one 5-letter word at a time.
OK, there’s my earworm for today.
Did anyone ever tell you that you have a warped sense of humor? ;o])
many...even as they were laughing their socks off.
:>)
Yes, I get that!! LOL!
Some people are just not appreciated! And then there’s you! Rock on, dude!
I’ll tell you an absolutely true story from my past.
I had an ex that was a very ambitious type who went on to have a very distinguished career in the biosciences. But she was also a bit of a whackjob.
When she was in elementary or middle school she won the science fair.
Her project was (don’t ask me how or the particulars) that she “taught” goldfish to swim around the bowl in a certain way. Again I know this doesn’t make a ton of sense but keep in mind I’m relaying a story I heard second hand 40 or so years ago.
Then she ground these goldfish up and fed the ground up goldfish to other goldfish who she claimed now knew how to swim the way she had taught the original fish to swim.
Except ... it was all BS. She had made up all the results. But she won the science fair.
Moral of the story? There’s probably a healthy does of wishful thinking that goes into a lot of this stuff. People want to believe many of these “theories”.
Wait, wait, you mean you CAN’T teach goldfish to swim in a certain direction?????
Welcome to the Undead Thread 2K.
Yeah, 2K, welcome to the Undead Thread!
Enjoy your time here and remember that your story fits right in with what we’ve been saying for the last 18 years of moving around on FR — You don’t have to be crazy to live in the Habitats, and you don’t really need to be crazy to go into the Lower Levels with its shifting walls, but you probably need to be crazy as all get out to ever want to leave and teach a gold fish to swim in one direction.
If you decide to stay, I can add you to the ping list, but it’s extremely low volume. Your choice! You’re most welcome to stay!
‘Face
;o]
Yeah. OK. I figured it out.
It bamboozled me the first time using a letter more than once.
Back from science. Trees. All the trees. And teenagers. Vlad(!) was reported by one of the parents for giggling with a girl when he should have been focused on aquatic resources.
I waved my finger at him and told him to be more focused and professional next time.
I’ve been getting most in 5, but got one in two.
I think it’s a matter of what words you begin with.
EARTH uses many of the most frequently used letters.
EARTH
SPOIL
By that point you’re likely to have something to work with.
Oh, crickey!
Vlad? Giggling when one needs to be focused on trees? How gauche!
It was supposed to be sunny all day today, but it was mostly cloudy. And cold. The wind came up. I hung the wind chimes yesterday, but they’re not too cooperative.
The lack of sleep the last two nights has taken its toll and I’m beginning to wonder how much longer I’ll be able to stay awake.
I’m also having trouble trying to find some British Murder Mysteries without a lot of foul language. I need something to help me stay awake, for sure. Maybe I’ll try MI-5 again.
You could start Foyle’s War over again. Vlad’s usually such a stump that I was surprised he would be turned in for giggling. James or Frank would be more likely.
Nice Cat. I wouldn’t care about snow if I had his outfit.
Yeah, I’ve thought about Foyle’s War, but I’ve never seen MI-5, so I’ll watch a season of it (or close to it) before I decide to watch the rest of the episodes or choose something else.
I thought it was rather unusual that Vlad would be “giggling.” It just doesn’t seem like him. I would have thought James, for sure!
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