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.
Congratulations! Half a thousand!
I’m feeling the urge to reduce the amount of Stuff, so I’ve told Sally that she can sell a variety of things and keep the funds to pay her charge bill. Win-win!
Thanks! A milestone of sorts.
I just checked the soup again. It may be edible tomorrow. Never saw a soup that needed so much salt!
Meanwhile, I’m going to lift my spirits by watching some more Death in Paradise.
I’m reducing the amount of stuff just because I have no room for it. Unfortunately, I can’t sell it because no one here has any more room than I do.
But a win is always a win, so go, Sally!
There are some options for the immense mystery shoe cabinet. I’ll just have to see if I care that much. If Sally could sell my little nightstand, which is solid oak and came out of my grandmother’s house after the fire, that would make it worthwhile to rejigger things and put the shoe cabinet in the spot. There would be more room for cats!
The nightstand was full of antique sewing bits, such as packets of needles made in Occupied Japan in the late 40s. (My grandmother was a hoarder.) When Dad cleared up the house in the late 90s and brought the cabinet, I sold the historic sewing bits to an antique store in Norman, OK.
There are things I’ve sold or donated that I wish I still had, but when one moves as often as I have, one can’t be hanging on to things that can be replaced.
We had thunderstorms all night long. I’m not sure how I’m feeling, other than very tired, so I have no idea right now, whether I’ll go to church today or not.
*yawn*
Unngh.
I had Jake on my pillow most of the night. Unnngh.
There’s a floof I could fall in love with!
Good morning.
We have flash flood warnings, but they started yesterday so no big deal.
Things are not looking good here, as far as going to church is concerned. I’m having a lot of cold chills and that’s usually the first indication that I need to take things easy. I’ll try to find the Zoom link and watch from home.
Right now, I’m going to go take a shower and see if I feel any better. I don’t like the way things are shaping up. :o|
I think it’s a good idea to have a health break from going out!
Some days, I just have to back away from life before it smacks me. The shower was good, but I’m tired. *whine* After a while, I’ll send a text to FS and let him know. PW will probably be happy she doesn’t have to make that extra effort.
But it’s OK. I’ll stay home and keep a low profile and hope the coming week sees an improvement.
It looks very gray and dismal outside, so I’ll be forced to turn lights on in here! Scary! ;o]
I hope you feel better after a day of rest. Sally and Vlad have found that some of my books are retailing for $100 or more. If they make a real effort at reselling, the per/hour return would be pretty substantial.
Yes, I’ve checked a few of my own books: QB VII was at $111 over three years ago, and at this point, I’m thinking I need to isolate the books that are worth a lot and let them go for sale for my “estate,” to pay for expenses. I suspect I couldn’t get much out of the Bibles, but there are quite a few other books that could be worth the search.
We were surprised by some, such as the first American printing of “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Meet Mr. Mulliner” by P.G. Wodehouse ($4 from The Book Lady).
I was going to donate the QB VII and then I had the idea to check the price for a first edition. Nope. Not going to donate it!
In other news, I just checked my pill bottle from the pain clinic. My appointment is for Feb 2, but the prescription was for 21 pills, to be taken three times a day. That works out to be a week’s worth if my math is correct. Much as I hate to, it looks as though I’ll be making a call to the pain clinic tomorrow. Unngh.
Oh, for heaven’s sake.
Yeah. I don’t know who dropped the ball on that one, but it needs to be taken care of asap.
Why does every simple thing here have to have such an element of difficulty? It just never seems to quit.
We have been requested to wear masks to church “for the next few weeks.” Unngh.
Don’t get me started on this, please.
Now, I’m off to go wash clothes. Not feeling all that great but will get it out of the way.
Good morning. Good luck with the wash.
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