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.
I still have to clean the bathroom, but not just yet. I was going to do it before I went to Wally’s but I slept in and then the Other Folks came early, so it didn’t get done because I lost two hours.
Of course, the later it gets, the less inclined I feel to do it, so I need to get off my tuffet and get busy. I won’t do it tomorrow, of course. And Monday morning will be taken up by my Favorite Son, so. Today it is.
Yep. Getting started is half the job.
Music helps me get the tedious chores done. I focus more on the music and the scrubbing, sweeping, mopping, etc. becomes a secondary focus and more tolerable.
I was always that way, but here, I went to move the stereo to an upper shelf on one of the bookcases, and it fell, hitting the TV screen on the way down and cracking the lid of the turntable. At the moment, it and the speakers are still stuck on the floor, awaiting the final phases of the actual move-in process so I can plug in the stereo and see if it’s still working. If I can at least get the radio to work, it will be OK, until I can find something else so I can play my LPs and DVDs.
Like I’ve said since I got here: This is the hardest move I’ve ever had to make, and since I was a military and then aerospace wife, that’s a lot of moves. I really wanted to make this place work, but the architect only added one closet. The “linen closet” is about the size needed for a medium first-aid kit, so no help from that quarter.
I keep trying to be an optimist and put off worrying about the silence, because a stereo isn’t “necessary.” Unless one really, really loves music! (Says the one with 180+ CDs and a growing (re)collection of LPs. (Trying to replace the ones I lost through the many moves.)
The dog is not quite sure of the cat! LOL!
Good morning. Did you sleep well?
I had some strange dreams, but thankfully, I can’t recall them. Not sure about getting up this morning. It was hard to do! It’s a long way to the floor!
Tough sledding.
Wordle 295 5/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Not too bad. Jake came by and purred on my pillow.
Shannon is limping this morning, probably from the cold. I carried her upstairs and put her on Patrick’s special gamer chair, where she likes to sit in the morning.
I’m sure she appreciated the lift!
I went in about 30 minutes ago to shower and the water was still cold. I’m going to go try again.
I plan to take a shower, too, but I’m waiting to see if DP is going to Mass at 9:00. Don Manuel is playing the guitar today.
OK, shower accomplished. Next thing is getting dressed, but it can wait for a bit. I hate sitting around in my Sunday Best waiting for hours.
Maybe by the time summer is here, I’ll be driving myself and able to go to an earlier Sacrament Meeting. Maybe.
Anyway, it seems like a good time to listen to an uplifting talk, since I have a while to wait before I can put my makeup on.
Is Don Manuel playing the guitar at the 0900 Mass? That would be something to hear, I think. I have a CD of Hymns for the Classic Guitar and I never tire of listening to it.
No, he’s playing at 1:00. I can send you a link to our YouTube streaming vid later. Don Manuel plays traditional Puerto Rican/Mexican, though, not classical, and he’s in his mid-80s, so sometimes he forgets what song he’s doing ;-).
Thanks! A link would be great because you’ve talked of him so often!
So are you singing today? You and the choir?
Yes, the choir with Don Manuel. Asuncion will have the solo parts today.
Yep, this one took a few tries.
Wordle 295 5/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Good work!
It’s always like that on Sundays. I had to actually write out the alphabet on this one and cross off each letter that wasn’t available. Most days, I don’t have to do that.
Cool! It will be nice to watch it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW8VL6vefHE
There’s a long stretch in the middle where we’re reading the Gospel.
Good Afternoon!
Had to remember to get to the Wordle upon getting back this afternoon (before I missed out on the chance to play today’s)...
Lucky second word made it pretty clear:
Wordle 295 3/6
⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
🟨⬛🟩🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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