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.
The Quinceanera was very nice. We’ll be going along to the party after a while.
How much fun will that be?
It’s been a long time since I was at a Quinceanera party! I don’t think I sat down all evening! So much fun! ;o]
This one lasts until 7:00 p.m., because those are the hours of the rental hall. It’s nice to know we’ll be home by 7:30!
Yes, they’re awfully cute, but they’re little devils. LOL
There is something to be said for early evenings! :o]
I’d love to have a cat, Allegra, but my DiL, the Perfect Wife, says she’s allergic, and that if I get a cat, she won’t visit me. She has no idea how tempting that is... ;o]
For now, I’m going to call this a day. The yard workers seem to be close to finished, so I’ll be heading in to watch the Blanket Show, soon!
Both of you have a good night! See you tomorrow!
Yessss....yes, that would be it.
Perspective. We need that. LOL!
That looks like I want to be. Flat on my back with my eyes closed, racking up some Zs!
Good morning. I hope you slept well.
I’m not sure how I feel, yet, but maybe I’ll feel better after my shower. Here’s hoping!
How was the party last night?
The party was great! It was still going on when we left a little after 10:00, but we made it to the cake!
I slept okay, thanks. There was some annoyance from Jake, but at some point, one of the Overnight People must have let him out, because he was at the back door in a snit when I came downstairs.
Hooray for cake!! I have some Pepperidge Farm cake in the freezer, and though I’m not impressed with the filling, it IS cake, and that’s always good!
Jake will probably be in a snit more or less for the next week, paying you back for leaving.
I need to go shower while the water is hot!
I plan on a shower, myself.
Good Morning!
I was boneheaded on row three (not enough ☕️), but it made the answer fairly clear:
Wordle 309 4/6
🟨⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟨🟨⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟨🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I hope that everyone has an enjoyable Sunday!
That felt good! And the hot water lasted until I was done. It was just beginning to lose the best of the heat, but by then, I had finished. So It was delicious.
My clothes are laid out, but I haven’t made the bed, and I’m going to try my luck at Wordle today. I never know if my brain is up to it, but its a good meter as to how said brain is functioning!
I had plenty of hot water. I’m going to take Kathleen to Walmart for this and that and hopefully a decent set of clothing.
Took me a lot longer than I wanted it to, but how many five-letter words are there in the English language?
Wordle 309 5/6
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I want to go to Walmart at 0600 on a weekday!! Then I can really rip through the store!
I’ve been buying a piece of clothing at a time (on sale) until I finally have several outfits from three or four things. It’s important that I look nice on Sundays! The rest of the week, who cares?
There are at least 158,390 five-letter words in the English language.
There are at least 158,390 five-letter words in the English language.
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