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.
Tom the Son hasn’t met up with a Humboldt Squid and had it try to chew a hole in the steel mesh diving suit. He’s not a threat to society. Just to himself. ;o]
Yup, oh dark hundred, the instant the door opens!
Probably just as well, it’ll give the spot in the crook of my elbow where I got a claw jab a chance to heal before the blood draw.
Good thing he’s so cute...
Oh, my, YES!!!
You’ll have to wear it and send me a selfie!
An ambulance company tried to stick me with a $3K+ bill for my husband when our insurance rep ascertained that the bill was in the three-digit range. It was straightened out after a few days, and the person who goofed was extremely apologetic, but I wasn’t too upset about it because my rep said that they could be in a world of trouble with the state insurance commission if they didn’t get their act together. However, if I had had to fast until the issue was resolved, I probably would have murdered somebody./s (Sarc tag for any lefty trolls wandering around here; where are the plesiosaurs when you need them?)
He’s not quite leash trained, I plan to wear it whenever we go for a drag...
I'd prefer an attack from above, a pterodactyl.
They're swift, and very stealthy.
You can't even hear them relieve themselves.
The p is silent...
Wouldn't a steel mesh diving suit sink the diver? I've only worn steel mesh gloves while bathing a cat; they don't seem like diving suit material. I wonder if carbon nanotubes would work.
Would you really want something whizzing silently over your head (pun-ishment intentional)?
Petsmart used to have dog lessons. They worked on all four of mine, even the large pointer-setter who didn’t take anyone seriously. When you take a selfie in the T-shirt, would you post it? (Removing all personally-identifiable anatomical features, of course.)
He hasn’t gone diving in the Pacific, either.
Thank you. Will avoid the Pacific. Will also avoid the Atlantic and the Gulf, just to be on the safe side. Maybe saline swimming pools, too.
Well, the neighbors can say you’re a lovely couple!
If you can jog ahead of him, he’ll make it worth your while. “Diet by American Wrecking Ball.” Who knows? It may catch on!
Hiya, Sg!
No, they use the steel mesh diving suits when filming sharks and Humboldt Squid all the time. They’re also used by high-tension linemen to keep the static charge from zapping the linemen when they’re doing their repair work.
Don’t ask me how they work in either case. I’ve just seen documentaries of the applications and was thenceforth awestruck. (Awestricken?)
Does he go scuba diving at all? I’d need a lot of weights on my belt if I were to do it. I’ve always had a hard time sinking. I couldn’t even get to the bottom of a 10’ swimming pool.
I don’t anticipate being the dragger, but being the draggee
Not over my head, but over theirs!
Yeah, Sg is good at that stuff!! I’m often in awe of the lady!
!
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