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.
Also, I know about hornworms.
I imagine if you soaked me in vodka I wouldn’t be feeling any pain either.
I’ll drink to that!
We’ve had torrential rains all day, with sound and light show, and it all started yesterday afternoon. I’ve been stuck indoors and I’m quite tired of it. It’s been mostly rainy for the last two months.
I would love to be back in the desert! Just to be dry and warm, and not have to worry about moldy things in cracks and crevices.
Arkansas has a history of rain in the spring, but I’m trying to recall our time in MO and this is like a whole new thing.
Anyway, it’s really good to hear from you, and know that you’re doing fine.
I hope Asuncion is able to get that last item for the remedy for your feet. I don’t even have a clue about anyone like that here. Wish I did, though...
I’ll be looking for beets when I hit the local vegetable aisle! My favorite vegetable when I was a child. I even like beet greens!
It would be nice if the weather stays good long enough for me to walk to Walgreen’s and Kroger and back. It’s supposed to be sunny all day tomorrow, but we’ll see.
So much rain!! If it weren’t so “warm” I’d think I’d been transplanted to Puget Sound.
There was a joke when I was growing up, about drinking the water in our “rival” town, six miles away. Girls who drank it got pregnant, so the story went. I didn’t date anyone from there, so I was exempt! LOL!
Such a pretty kitteh!
Good morning. Did you sleep well?
The storms finally left, but in their wake was a trail of destruction. You may be getting them soon. Hopefully by then, they’ve dissipated somewhat.
It’s 38° heading for a high of 70° but it won’t reach that until late afternoon, so I’ll be wearing my winter coat on my walk this morning. Unngh.
The damned dog tricked me into thinking he wanted to go out. Then he hopped onto the warm spot on my bed.
he snores.
He sure is cute...
Not bad, thanks. We might have weather later. Kathleen has a riding lesson in the afternoon, so hopefully it won’t be stormy at that time.
What we do for our pets. Can you get another bed and put them side by side to make more room?
While mom is here she has the master bed room. I’m in the study, there just isn’t enough bed room in this bedroom for a larger bed.
It’s not like I didn’t know what he was doing. I made the bed so he would slobber* on the blanket not the sheets before I went to sit on the throne.
He didn’t disappoint...
He’s spidered out from the wall to within six inches of the other edge...
* Now that the daffodil has worked its way out of his system he barely slobbers.
Mom is scolding someone in her sleep.
Good morning, everyone. Happy Friday Eve!
The sun is shining. It’s trying to warm up. My beeber says it could get as high as 74 today. We’ll see.
I need to change my last name to Biden or something. I’m getting tired of having to owrk to make money.
My husband does that. It’s annoying.
I’ve decided to identify as Queer. It’s not like there’s a definition.
True dat. Is there any money in it?
Oh, and today’s
Wordle 299 3/6
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Congratulations!
Palm Springs, CA, has voted to offer $900/mo to lower-income LBGTQIA+ people.
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