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.
Good morning. Happy Humph Day!
I see another busy work day for me, I’m not sure when I’ll pop in again.
Today is the day things are supposed to get warmer. I hope they do.
I had a cat like that once! Best mouser in the neighborhood. My dad didn’t want her around so he took her about six miles away and dropped her off. She came back. She loved me.
Good morning. I hope you slept well.
Text messages kept me awake for a while, but then everyone was safe at home, so it was OK to put the phone away and call it a day. I’m tired, but I’ll make it.
The shower will be coming up soon.
It’s going to be gloomy today and rainy tomorrow, and maybe one of the days, FS will actually be able to come over and do some things for me. Or take me to lunch. Which would be nice.
It was almost 9:00 when they got home last night, so they were quite tired. Then my Other Sister texted me some photos of paintings she had done when she was living in Alaska, so it was after 10:00 before I was able to call it a night.
Like ketchup. Nothing happens, then it all happens at once.
Good morning. We’ll be leaving for the Museum of York County SC in a few minutes, once Frank’s friend from up the street arrives. Animals and trees!
Good luck and have fun on your outing!
My wife and daughter got today’s Wordle faster than I did. Oh, the shame.
And both my wife and daughter got the Wordle in the old site in 2 guesses. I didn’t try.
Wordle 242 5/6
🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
⬜🟨🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I haven’t done today’s. Yesterday’s was five tries.
I really need to get my FD interested in it! :o]
Tom the Son has wandered by. He says the swamp hike last Saturday went very well. He also said his landlord is going to sell the house he’s living in. This is a bit awkward, because Tom doesn’t know whether he’ll be admitted to graduate school or get a job in an unknown location.
I told him he can bunk here, briefly, if necessary. Then I gave him some gas money and he took Vlad for a driving adventure.
Odd, I was wondering on Saturday, when you and I were discussing the Great Swamp Adventure, if Tom’s landlord would be selling the house any time soon. Maybe if I hadn’t thought it...
Putting a house up for sale does not necessarily mean it will be sold in a timely manner, and it makes more sense to have it generate income while waiting for a buyer than to have it sit vacant.
It will all come together for Tom, no matter what. He’ll be OK. It’s nice that he could take Vlad for a Driving Adventure. You don’t need cheap thrills like that, too often. You’ve had more than your share, this time around!
The original plan was that the landlord was going to move back into the house after a couple of years. I guess he decided on a different plan.
The house will sell overnight once they list it, but Tom said the plan was vague, “spring or summer.”
He helped me with the WSJ crossword.
I received the envelope today with the article. I’ll read it soon. Tough looking people in that photo!
A 1600+ mile trek will do that to a body! Glad you got it, and I hope you enjoy the read!
Also the beards.
I understand the beards, as part of it was “fashion,” but good grief!
I can’t imagine what it would have been like to live with a man who had a beard back then. But then, I’m thinking with my current state of heightened odor sensitivity, not someone else’s tolerance for facial hair.
I’ve been doing the USA Today crossword, which probably isn’t a fraction as difficult as the WSJ crossword, but I can solve it, even if it takes me a while.
Maybe the owner of the house will decide not to sell when “spring or summer” rolls around. Vagueness is wishy-washy.
Now I’m going to head for bed, but I don’t think I was as rested as I thought I was when I got up this morning.
Have a good night!
Good Evening!
Very tough Wordle sledding for me today... I just couldn’t ‘see’ the word...
Wordle 242 6/6
🟨⬛🟨⬛⬛
🟨🟨⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟩⬛🟩⬛
⬛🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I hope you have a good night!
Good morning. Happy Friday Eve!
I was sent on a bagel run this morning so we can give something to the nurses caring for my m-i-l. So I haven’t even looked at today’s Wordle yet.
The weather actually decided to agree with the foregnosticators. It was 37 fs when I went out this morning (which is relatively balmy) and is spposed to be heading to a high of 51, with rain. (We have a flood warning.)
Thunderstorms are expected here. I’m going to get my haircut. Other than that, it’s all pages and more pages all day.
Yep. It was the same for me. It’s a good thing it gives us six tries or I never would have gotten it. In fact, some days, I don’t.
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