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.
Or you could do like Mrs Piggle-Wiggle and put them all in upside-down.
Actually, IIRC, she built her whole houe upside-down.
Man, that was a long time ago.
Maybe I should have clarified and said, “put bottled water in the fridge.”
Yeah. Like that.
Wellnow.
Mr Fixit left the old door wide open, locked up the storage shed and took off with never a fare-thee-well, kiss my foot, go to heck or anything. Just left. Another day with a very small level of security, and it will be this time next week before it’s all done, if I’m not mistaken.
Hopefully nothing will happen. Do you have a chain lock, or could your son help you with one?
I don’t, but I can get one tomorrow. And yes, he can.
I was awake half the night, but right now, I wish I were like this kitteh!
Good morning. Did you sleep well?
I need to get dressed, though I really don’t want to just yet. It’s a Saturday and I should be sleeping in. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.
The soup on to cook, but I don’t have any high expectations for it. I’ll know by the time I’m ready to eat it, after I get back from Walmart. It will either need tweaking or tossing.
I’m sure your soup will be just fine. We have choir this morning, and Sally will probably turn up to kibbitz and do her laundry.
Sally said Anoreth’s dog is sick again. I’m afraid poor old Dog is getting to her terminal decline. She’s an old, old girl.
“Cats proved the World isn’t flat. If the World were flat they would have pushed everything off by now.”
comment on Babylon Bee video
Excellent point.
James and his hair just showed up, complaining that Shannon pushed them out of bed.
FS sent me a text when I was finishing up cleaning the bathroom, saying he was still in bed, PW was still asleep, and they would let me know when they were headed for Walmart. Also, that he would put a safety chain latch on the door for me. It’s a composite door, so I don’t know how safe it will be, but —
I’m still trying to fight the draft under the door, but as long as it isn’t right next to me, I’m OK.
When I was cleaning the bathroom, I had to use some baking soda and vinegar in the basin drain. Shared plumbing sucks.
And now, two hours later, I get another text saying they’ll be leaving “in a bit” and that PW is in the shower. Unngh.
What a waste of a day. I had things I wanted to do, but I had to put them on hold until I found out when we were leaving. About the only thing that will get done is the chain latch on the door and maybe the small mirror put up in the bathroom. At least the bathroom is clean.
Arrgh! Meanwhile, there are only two weeks left before I need to get the car “registered.” I somehow don’t think it will be finished before I have to do that.
I like Drano. We’ve had choir practice, and now I have to go to Walmart and get cat food. Bad things happen without cat food, and how will I type without my extremities?
Can’t use Drano here as the plumbing is PVC. The baking soda and vinegar do a great job, so I don’t mind. I keep both on hand all the time, just because I’m used to using it.
The trip to Walmart was strange. I couldn’t find what I wanted/needed and as a result, the Other Folks were done before I was. So FS was watching for me to see which checkout stand I came through and he put all the bags in the cart. All I had to do was pay!
Then we stopped at Kroger for some things PW had to get, then they stopped to put gas in the car, and unngh.
He’ll be back to put the chain latch on the door, but I don’t know when. Just sometime this afternoon. Maybe after they go to the gym.
We survived Walmart. We’ve taken the Christmas tree down, and now Sally and Vlad are building the mystery shoe rack that came from, apparently, nobody. Who knows, I might want it once it’s built, and if not, I’ll ask all my local friends.
I have more things that need to go either to the dumpster or to Goodwill. The pile isn’t growing as fast as it had been, but that’s OK. It’s getting them out of here that is the hard part.
I have a shoe rack (no mystery there) but I have no room for it here, so it’s in the donation pile.
When FS said I “should stock up on stuff,” I told him that I would have to use up what I have on hand before I can buy any more. I had room for stuff in Happy Valley. Not so much here in Dogpatch.
The soup is shaping up to be pretty bland. I’ve been tweaking it since I got back from Walmart, but it’s not nearly as good as I hoped. I’ll wait for a bit and check it again.
In the meantime, we’ve been having some thunder. LOUD stuff!
I had a nap with Jake. The shoe rack is enormous. I’ll send you a snap, stand by.
I got a text from FS saying he is not coming to put the chain latch on my door. He doesn’t feel like going out again.
And I don’t feel like putting up with doors and people that don’t work well.
Bah. Humbug.
the rain is pouring down once again, and the thunder is not constant, but is present.
I’m glad we went to Walmart when we did, though it was still much later than I would have liked. The shelves were empty of a lot of things.
OK. I’ll take it, since no one else seems to want it. :o|
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