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.
Does I really hazta lick dem ALL clean??
“OK. Who’s the wise guy who washed all these before I could do my job?”
Good morning. Did you have a good night?
Are your feet any warmer this morning?
Doggone people who text me in the middle of the night! This one doesn’t really pay attention to whatever I say. UNNGH!
You could turn your phone off ...
Good morning. Pretty good night. I don’t think there was a cat. My feet are getting cold now, but I’m about to go get dressed for Weight Watchers and put on shoes, so that will help. It’s supposed to be less cold today.
Good morning.
Good morning. Happy Twosday!
M-i-l made it to the rehab center. Hopefully her husband can visit her today, for the first time in over 2 weeks. Maybe then his emotions can settle down a little.
We had temperatures in the 30s yesterday, and 32 fs this morning when I walked the dog. So it’s a little better than it has been. It should be a fairly mild (for February) week.
I haven’t had to resort to turning my phone off since I left Happy Valley. This person is not considerate of those with any years on them, even though she seems to be obsessed by things relating to “old age” and how it affects the body, and all seniors experience the same things, according to her.
She didn’t hear what I said in the first place, or there would have been no need for her text.
I don’t know what’s on the docket for today, but I might actually get something done. Maybe. Even if it’s only shifting boxes.
Good for your M-i-L! And maybe you’re right about her husband being able to clam down. (Lots of people need to clam down!)
It’s 23° out, so no change there. Nights are still very cold. Today is supposed to be in the upper 40s so I’ll take what I can get!
How’s Dog doing?
Dog is doing OK. She’s pretty settled into life. The seizures seem to be far between, at least during the winter. If they start to increase in frequency during the spring we’ll probably blame the insane amount of chemicals this place puts on the grass.
LOL!! No one can say the Chinese lack humor. Well, they can, but it would be mostly lying! LOL!
I guess you’ll find out within the next 6-12 weeks, then. What a shame that she should even be troubled at all with them.
Thanks for the tip!
Glad that she was able to get in ArGee, and that her husband was able to visit!
Good morning!
It took me five tries today, but I got it!
Good Morning, I was ‘sure’ from the 3rd row and ended up needing 6! lol
Well, with the placement of the vowels plus the consonants I had already used, there were very few choices by the time I solved it! Some days, logic wins. Some days, I go down in defeat!
Back from WW and a stop at Petsmart for crickets. After lunch, the library.
That was productive! I did the dishes, then made the bed and hung up the glass barometer, and maybe I’ll shift some things. I unpacked the cuckoo clock; it’s the first time in five or six years that it has seen the light of day.
I MAY be able to get it working again. I tried to fix it, but at the time, my cataracts were so bad I was almost blind, (I was younger than you at the time) so I just left it on the wall, not working.
I certainly can’t afford a new one, and it was one of the last few to come out of the Schwarzwald with brass works. Maybe I’ll be able to get that pesky chain back onto the cog where it belongs!
I nearly forgot.
Wordle 234 4/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.