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.
My thoughts exactly! I think he’s regretting his choice, but that’s not going to bring back the money that has been spent and the time that has been lost.
Nothing I can do now, anyway, but sit and wait.
In-laws are OK. Thanks for asking. M-i-l was transported back to her hometown to see the orthopedist for a read on how things were healing. She’s not being a good patient.
And her husband is being an im-patient. But that’s life.
I don’t remember how I did this weekend, but thanks for reminding me to get back to today’s. I gave it a rest after 3 guesses. But I got it.
Wordle 240 4/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Nice work.
I think I may have gotten a 2 guess solution one time. But that was when my first guess had 4 of the letters correct, but in the wrong place. I’ve never done it with only 2 right letters before.
I got Saturday’s in 3 and yesterday’s in 4.
Unfortunately some are slow learners. My youngest brother’s oldest son had to have a neck brace from wrapping his car around a tree. I don’t know if he settled down after that - I didn’t see him after the brace came off.
If he’s cutting corners on his turns and driving 48 in a 45 when I’m sitting next to him, what will he do alone?
Cutting corners is never a good thing, no matter what your age. It’s not only dangerous, it’s stupid.
And there is never a good reason to exceed the speed limit even if one rationalizes it into being.
It’s difficult to be a good patient.
On the lucky two row Wordle: I was actually using a word based on the two letters given in the first row, merely to confirm/eliminate two vowels... Imagine my shock when they all turned Green...
I’ve actually adjusted my strategy to always use the given letter clues, and not ignore them... that is, I don’t use a predetermined ‘eliminate/confirm’ word after row one (unless of course it works with the letter clues (if any) from row one)...
Gee, I only missed you by eleven hours this time. *le sigh*
Lookie there!!
Right in the middle of his little forehead.
“M” is for MOUSE!
“I sees you, rodent!”
Good morning!
I see that kind of difficulty today. But I’ll get back to it later.
Three kittehs? But it’s Twosday!
Happy Twosday, everyone.
It’s supposed to get a little warmer today, then really warm up tomorrow. For now, at least.
One of those kittehs is a puppy.
Happy Tiw’s Day!
My forecast is offering 54 Fs this afternoon, but it’s presently 28.
Back on a better track today:
Wordle 241 3/6
⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Good Twosday Morning!
In a bit of a warmup here... no freezing temps until Thursday night into Friday morning...
Awww... Sleepalumps!
Good morning. Sorry I’m late. I slept in. It was difficult to fall asleep last night, but since I was exhausted, I slept anyway.
I’m not sure what today will hold but it will probably be as exhausting, as well. At some point, I have to fold and put away the clothes I washed yesterday, but no big deal!
There are some phone calls awaiting my attention, but the numbers will just have to sit and stare at me until I feel up to actually putting in those numbers and listening to it ring on the other end. Always on speaker these days, because “the menu may have changed.”
There is also a migraine beginning behind my right eye. It tried to sneak in last night but I was able to keep it at bay. I don’t know if I’ll be successful at it today. It seems insistent.
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