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.
I thing you should do whatever you think will give you the best result going into the new week!
And good morning. We’ll be able to drive to church this afternoon, but I don’t know how many of the choir will get there. Father said that last weekend in the ice, the Spanish Mass had the most attendance (25!).
Wow.
Black ice is the worst to drive on, so I don’t wonder that the attendance was so low. But 25, even under icy conditions is a pretty good turnout.
I feel like I need to go today to take the Sacrament, as if I stay home, it will be three weeks. (Stake Conference last week.) I don’t like to go that long. I’ll just come home and change the sheets, then get the rest of the laundry ready for tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ll never be able to make it through tomorrow. I don’t do work that isn’t necessary (The Lord’s Day of Rest, and all) on Sundays, but I think in my case, it’s necessary. I can’t see any way around it without making myself sicker.
Now, I have to go shower.
I need to take a shower, too. Vlad has just emerged, but there’s no sign of Kathleen or James and his hair yet. Someone was up with the lights on after 1:00 last night.
The shower has been had, and I’m pretty much dressed. I still need to do the hair and put on my face (it seems to have left me during the night) so that people will recognize me.
Right now, I just had my pills and am going to tuck into Second Breakfast — a small cup of ice cream. Which I can eat year ‘round! It’s not just for summer any more!
I feel better, but I think that’s largely due to the fact that I think I’ve figured out that stupid water heater, so I can let the hot water run long enough to ease some of the kinks and stiffness. Some days are worse than others, but a hot shower helps enormously.
I, too, have been to the shower. I need to make song pages for Mass.
Good luck on your song pages!
It’s almost time for me to leave. I realized last night, that yesterday would have been my mother’s birthday. That’s the first time it dawned on me so late in the day.
She couldn’t recall if she were born on the 22nd or the 23rd, but since there were no birth certificates issued at the time, there is no way to verify it. Usually christening records were used to establish birthdates, but I don’t know if she even had that. The sister who had all her stuff is gone, now, too. And the son who has her stuff is sunning himself on the island of Kauai.
Anyway, it’s almost time to shut this down, so I’ll see you when I get back.
I hope Mass goes well for you, and that there is a good turnout!
Thanks! Best wishes for your Sunday, and happy birthday to your late mother, whatever day it was.
Yeah, thanks! I wished her a happy birthday last night, but I can do it again tonight.
FS stayed home today. He wasn’t sick, just not feeling all that well and on the off chance that it might be the beginnings of Omicron, he opted to stay home.
There were a couple of good speakers, so the time passed fairly fast. And we sang a hymn I had never sung before. I encounter those periodically due to my many moves, but I’m always surprised when there’s another. The hymnal isn’t that big!
I hope your son feels better tomorrow.
Thanks! I’ll pass on the wishes.
He’s going to come over one day this week and do “things” for me, so I’ll get a couple of hours with him, anyway. I need to measure the top of the stove so he can find something to cover it, giving me more counter space.
I always enjoy time with him.
I’m up, and I’ll be out of here in about 20 minutes. Unngh.
What a sweet little floof! I hope he grows into his head!
Good morning.
I hope you slept well.
I’m going to put the clothes away and then maybe take a nap, because I don’t want the sleepless cycle to start up again. I hate when that happens.
But it is Monday, and it means a new week to look forward to.
I think a nap is a great idea. Jake is already having his.
I slept pretty well. No cat!
Good morning. Happy Monday!
We survived the weekend. Friday afternoon my M-i-L slipped on some ice. My wife and F-i-L dropped her off at the emergency room at around 4 (because you can’t wait here - COVID) and around 8:30 we found out her hip was broken. Why so long? Probably all the fired staff.
Anyway, my F-i-L was once a Navy Corpsman. Now he’s helpless without his wife to make his coffee. So we were over there a lot trying to help him handle the emotional stress and learn some basics of taking care of himself. I think he’s ready to face most of the morning alone. We’ll see.
Am I wrong to think he should have moved off of “I can’t believe this is happening to me” and into “I need to be strong for my wife” by sometime Saturday morning? My wife thinks I was expecting too much.
Deepest sympathy for your M-I-L.
A few years back after a sudden unexpected ice storm I slipped on unseen black ice at the foot walkway steps about 5am. Along with head and other injuries thought I dislocated my wrist which turned out to have broken. ER was loaded at the triage admittance. Had about the same wait while in serious pain. Turns out the had 43 patients with broken wrists with not enough ortho docs to handle the flood. Found this out during release...I was the only one that didn’t require surgery, pins etc. So that may have been a factor in your MIL case.
An ex-Navy Corpsman doing an extended self absorbed woe-is-me number over his wifes serious injuries is unseemly IMO...he gets a pass on the first shock of news but its times like this that one mans up and does what needs doing in aid of his wife.
Good Monday morning, ArGee.
So sorry to hear about your M-i-L, but your F-i-L doesn’t need to be enabled at this point. He needs to be encouraged to function on his own. What if the worst had happened? Would he sit frozen forever, because his wife wasn’t there to do for him?
How does he, at his age, (and ex-military) not know how to find his way around the kitchen? I mean, coffee pots come with instructions, cereal can be eaten dry out of the box if one is into that, but everything else is a matter of logic. If you see something you want to eat, and don’t know how to make it, read the instructions. If it doesn’t come in a box, look it up on the internet.
I’m sorry about the situation, but he’s not helping anyone by feeling sorry for himself, especially his wife, who will need him very much in the coming weeks. </rant
The clothes (such as they were) are hanging to dry and the bed has yet to be made.
I did have a nap, but it didn’t feel like a real nap.
Not sure if anything else will get done today, and I guess that’s OK. The important stuff is done or close to it, and anything else is gravy. ;o]
It’s good to have realistic plans. I need to finish reading a book to Kathleen before we go to the library.
I am struggling on today's Wordle... after 3 rows I don't have a clue...
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