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.
W00t!
Just got off the phone with SSA. A record 35 minutes! The good news is that the DD will stay where it is. The better news is that I can close the other bank account ASAP and open a new one in a bank with free checking. (BIG sigh of relief!)
The guy was such a contrast to the woman I spoke to on Monday. He was a real sweetheart. And did what I knew could be done, because I’ve been dealing with SSA before they ever used computers for their clients. It has always taken two weeks to make a change if you do it over the phone. Two months if you do it online. And I don’t need to argue with anyone about it.
Right! I grabbed a 00 with a poor Wordle showing. Nice job, me.
They either canceled each other out, or evened things up, depending on whether the glass is half-empty or half-full!
;o]
Good on ya!
I struggled a little, but got there in five. Eliminated letters were a big help.
Wordle 292 5/6
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Good for you!
Sometimes, I forget about the eliminated letters and use them in the next word, and then realize I’ve wasted a try. :o[
I’m glad that worked out for you!
I’ve accomplished one or two things today, and I’m about to do more.
I had a pretty much non-stop morning, which doesn’t happen often because I get tired before I get very far into the day.
But I looked at the clock when I had done what I could in the closet and it was after noon. The last time I looked at it, it was 0814 and I was on perma-hold with SSA.
Anyway, tomorrow is Friday and my day to write to Charlie. He’s been on my mind a lot, so I’m concerned about how he’s doing. I may try to get another letter written, but we’ll see. Since I’ve moved here, it seems Fridays, the only thing I get done is writing to Charlie.
It’s okay. I might go to Mass first thing in the morning, and I have a call with Steve, my spiritual companion, at 10:30.
Mass is a good thing.
Now, though, I’m off for the night, so sleep well!
See ya tomorrow! :o])
I hope you have a great night. It looks like the weather is clearing here: maybe Jake can stay out!
Patrick adulted today and got the Avalon inspected and a headlight replaced, and he was quite agreeable when I said I wasn’t going to pay him back, he was just contributing to his driver status.
It was a short night. I woke up hungry but then realized there was a lot of pain in other places so I tossed and turned for about an hour and finally got out of bed. I may take a nap later, but for now, I’m here.
Good for Patrick! He needs to begin absorbing some of the costs of operating a vehicle, and this is a good start.
Tiny Scrapper is ready for Friday!
Good morning. I hope you slept well.
The shower was hot this morning and stayed hot long enough for me to give all the joints a good turn under the spray. Wonderful!
I had forgotten to add my new number to AAA and to Cricket, and the latter was a real pain. It took me a while to figure out what the site wanted me to enter, but I eventually got it done. AAA was easy.
I had to hunt to find my last letter to Charlie, but I found it and at least I won’t be repeating myself.
Outside of letters, I don’t really have any plans for today. Except watching the barometer drop. Again.
Good morning. Happy Friday.
Seize the day, kitteh.
It was still raining when I woke up, but it seems to have stopped for now. So on with the weekend I guess.
Wordle 293 4/6
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Good Friday Morning!
Good first word helped:
Wordle 293 3/6
🟨⬛🟩🟨⬛
🟩⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
It took a while!
Wordle 293 5/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟨🟨🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟨🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
He’ll chase you away!
Good morning. Not too well - my digestion was a bit off.
Sorry about your weather!
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