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 Friday morning! I’m with kitteh! “Snow,” and “rain,” are four-letter words.
I can’t believe this took me so many tries!
Wordle 307 5/6
🟨🟨⬜🟩⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
W00t!
Good job!
When I look at the zoomed out radar, I see that your state is often filled with rain lately... looks dry today though!
I didn’t get that until the end, so it was a real struggle!
That is certainly strange!
Good Friday (again, so soon!) Morning!
My first and second row strongly implied the middle three letters, then it was clear with the remaining letters:
Wordle 307 3/6
🟨⬛🟩⬛🟨
⬛🟨🟩⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Yepper. The Locals say this is a “strange” year. All I know is that I CAN walk in the rain, but I prefer not to, even though I won’t shrink. However, I think this year they have already reached their 57” yearly total rainfall!
I still prefer the Mojave Desert, thanks. So do my bones!
Yes, it’s clear but humid, so my floors are sticky. When I get back from Little Rock with my FS, I’ll have to turn the A/C on. Lots of neighbors have had theirs on already, but not me! I don’t like it cold!
There were so many other words with the same ending...
Interestingly where having this discussion at work today.
Either the people of the US having a bit of a quiet work with the .gov or Russia are going to be the ones to stop this world wide madness. If the US people take the lead the NWO will be stopped, if Russia takes the lead the world be split in two: NWO and Russia/China/India.
Unfortunately it has to be the people themselves as the .gov are hand in hand with the megalomaniacs. Russia dare not try and liberate the US ... the US has the NWO Nuke arsenal.
Reinstall a Trump like device and we stand a chance.
:)
Good job, Z and ‘Face!
Wordle 307 4/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Eliminated letters helped me today.
Wow! Please send some to us. We’re below our average and have had wildfire issues in the region.
Back from Asheville, off to Envirothon. I hope you’ve had a good trip to Little Rock and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Unfortunately, China is part of the NWO cabal. They want to be in charge.
Americans will have to grow some hugh Eier before anything takes place. The build-up seems to be slow, but all heck will break loose soon. America is tired of the inflation and the abuse of power.
Not to mention allowing so many illegals to take precedent over American military veterans. Don’t want to be one of those in power when the fit hits the Shan.
It was a fun trip, for as long as it lasted, and I’ll tell you more, later.
Good luck at Envirothon!
Trust me: I’d love to share this wet stuff!
The day was beautiful when we went to Little Rock but began to cloud op on the way back. I hate when that happens!
The boys did decently on their testing today and on their practice presentation. The state competition is next Friday and Saturday.
I made a reptile friend. I’ll send pictures tomorrow.
I’ve come to believe that you can make a friend of any critter!
Good to know about the byos. I’m sure they will be excellent in the competition this coming weekend.
Good morning. Jake hopped up on the bed and said, “Meow!” and when I didn’t get up, he batted some Lego around the floor. Then I think he went to sleep in my closet, because he isn’t here now.
What a sweet little floof!
Good morning. I hope you slept well.
I had the alarm set for 0600, thinking I could grab an extra hour, but 0415 I was awake. Ten minutes later, I got up. *sigh*
I was dreaming of guns, and they indicate “an injustice to you or someone close to you,” and all I could think of is “that’s all I need.” As if I don’t have enough challenges! LOL! Bring it on!
Today, of course, is Walmart day, and it will be OK, I think. I had some good conversation with FS yesterday, but he missed the point on a couple of things. I won’t be able to tell him today, because PW will be like Velcro to him, but I’ll try to text him.
He did ask how close I was to letting him put the sofa together and I reminded him of the bookcases that need to be assembled. I guess I’d better get busy. Someone has to do it.
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