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.
Frank just didn’t want to keep walking back and forth 66 feet until he settled into a consistent number of steps. Noodle.
We’ll get back to Current Environmental Issues after lunch. They all did pretty poorly on that last Friday, but part of the problem was that the test wasn’t very well written. (We make our own tests for practice.) It’s making us go back through the material, though, and that’s what they need.
“Lessons are repeated until they are learned.” One of the Rules of Life, but I find it applies to almost anything one is trying to learn.
One item assembled. Not a big one, and no one will see it for the most part but me because it’s in the bedroom, doubling as an endtable/nightstand. It was needed, and it’s been here, but I built the other one out of necessity because it’s so much smaller than the TV stand.
I will try to start on one of the small bookcases, but I also want to get some things filed in one of the crates. Or two. That will eventually make things much neater. I have to re-do the closet. I’m going to try and stack the crates facing out so things are accessible. Who knew I’d have to put every ounce of organizational skill I have to work on the just this one move? My mind is often overwhelmed with it all and I have to back away and find something I can do by rote to rest. (Where’s the fun in that?)
Top Notch!
👍🏻
Keeping the streak alive!
👍🏻
I’ve begun a “score sheet” as it were for my Wordle efforts.
Here’s hoping it will help me.
I’ve managed to hang two more pieces of art in the bedroom (and before you ask, ArGee, he never complained nor suggested which pieces I used first) but both of them required a little trimming before they would fit in the frames.
One is a watercolor of our old high school by my Real Brother, and the other is a tempera print by the late Larry Toschik. I had to get frames for each of them but at Walmart, its doable. My bedroom is looking good!
Now if I could just work the same magic in the living room...
*tagline*
Dang, ArGee! Well done!
I stopped for a bit after three rows (work gets in the way) and then my BFF in Virginia gave me a huge clue, thinking I was done with mine.
So I can’t take credit for solving it because I don’t know how many tries it would have taken if I hadn’t had the clue. :(
Wordle 311 4/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
You did a good job!!
Yep, that first row goes a long way in the eventual solving of the thing. I try to find ways to make it work, but some days, my brain just doesn’t want to cooperate.
Those are the days when I use a word that obviously has one or two letters that have already been eliminated. Those are my face-palm days!
Somehow, I missed this post and couldn’t figure out why we hadn’t heard from you yet this morning.
Awesome job, ArGee!!
That should go into the Book of Guiness Records! ;o]
Nap achieved. We may have a storm, or it might just be windy for a while.
I got a card today! Way cool!
It’s chilly and the wind is picking up; it will be in the lower 40s again tonight. What a long winter.
Tomorrow is my appointment at the pain clinic and it will be the last one my son takes me to until they get back from Europe. The countdown is real! I hope the weather is nice while they’re gone. ;o]
At least I’ll be able to go to Walmart early in the morning a couple of times, though I don’t really want to drive his truck. I don’t like driving other people’s cars. Unngh.
It rained for just a few minutes here. I got the music ready for Sunday. Everything is familiar since we won’t be able to practice because of Envirothon.
Like rule number 76: The floggings will continue until morale improves.
The 4 letters I got in the first guess, paired with the one that was in the right place, made it a long time before I came up with the word. I don’t know if there was any other possibility.
There's a really bad joke in there we used to tell before computers were a thing.
I'll spare you.
Yep, it's that bad.
LOL!
Maybe, but my list of The Rules of Life only has ten rules. Easier to live by!
Well, I did try to cover all possibilities, and Art didn’t mind, so it’s all good!
Kitteh is ready for a new day.
Good morning. Did you sleep well?
I’m not excited about the appointment this morning, but it seems FS was in a good mood last night when he sent a text about it, so I’ll take it.
We’ll also go to Walmart to get a Filtrete filter for this HVAC because when I turned the A/C on, I still smelled tobacco. I can’t have that.
Maybe, depending on how I feel, I can see about getting something else assembled today. I’ve figured out that I can do most of it while sitting on my stepstool, either the bottom step or the top one. (Otherwise, I can’t get up! LOL!)
Wow. It’s hard to believe April is almost over with!
Not bad, thanks. I recall some incident with Jake. I’ll be getting the youth up before long so they can get going on today’s science review.
I hope your appointment goes well!
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