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.
Happy Monday to you and yours!. Are M-I-L and F-I-L holding a steady course?
thanks...if you zoom in and look carefully you’ll see the spots on the melanistic leopard.
Oh, a black leopard! Maybe the panther on our shirts was actually a leopard. We pirated his portrait from a protein powder ad.
Natives getting restless. Must feed them. SY’allL
Good Morning!
Nice to wake up above freezing here...
Good Morning!
Had a great Wordle Weekend:
Wordle 238 3/6
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Wordle 239 2/6
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Never had a 2 row solution before! Will try today’s later.
I don’t mind seeing them again. Beautiful kittehs!
Jake and Shannon are doing fine. Shannon is back to hanging out in what used to be Tom’s room but is now Pat and James’s room, where there is a “gaming chair” and often a brother hanging around to tell her she’s amazing.
Jake has taken over the sleeping bag in the dragon room that Shannon spent her days on for several months. I suspect a change in sunbeam patterns is at work.
Sorry for the lateness of my second arrival. I got done in the laundry room, then took a nap (SOP, these days) and when I woke up, I had to hang up the clothes that I had washed.
Then made the bed, then paid a bill, then, then, well, then, here I am.
I didn’t get Saturday’s Wordle, but yesterday’s I got in four, and today’s was done in four. Some days I can do it and some days — not.
Good morning again. A Vlad driving adventure took us to Meck library, Union library, and Walmart, and we survived to tell the tale.
I’m glad you survived to tell the tale of another Driving Adventure. You should have a couple of year’s rest before you have to start again with Frank, right?
I took some trash out and met two of the neighbors in the parking lot. One of them was my ex-swimming buddy, so now, I’ll have to wait until the Problem Child is up and running legally before I can go swimming. She said it hurt her feet too much. I probably need a pair of swim shoes, though. I’ll have to check out the website and see the cost of some.
Today is National Donor Day!
I was going to start to unpack some books but then my right hip started protesting when I went to the dumpster, so I canned the idea. I decided it would probably be better if I waited for today’s delivery to see how much room I have in the kitchen area, and it there is enough, I’ll move stuff back in there, THEN start to unpack the books!
Some days, it just doesn’t pay to chew through the straps.
Frank will turn 13 later this year, so at least a couple of years before he drives.
Vlad is overconfident. He won’t be doing a lot of independent driving in the next few months, and I hope he will settle down a bit.
Rough Wordle sledding today, just made it:
Wordle 240 6/6
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That overconfidence behind the wheel is not a good thing. He’s not a stunt driver and shouldn’t confuse himself with one because he’s not even playing one on TV.
I’m with you, in hoping he settles down and takes the business of driving seriously.
I won’t do today’s until a little later. I keep forgetting I’m a day behind on the darn things!
It’s just little things, but little things add up, and any citation is a big problem for a 16-year-old.
Absolutely! I knew how to drive when I was 13 (farming community) but I never had a license until I was 20. I didn't need one. But I've kept one ever since, and any accident I've been in has been when I wasn't driving, except for one when the car was hit from behind.
It's just not worth it to temp fate when one is behind the wheel.
And speaking of cars, the title for the Problem Child is back, but now we have to wait to see what’s the problem with the child. I hope it’s not too expensive to fix!
I hope the Problem Child works out well. I think the son has most of the responsibility, since he chose it.
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