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.
Hmmm, sounds ominous...
Roses are red
Soylent is green
Get in the stew pot
It’s Covid-19...
I’m often on the Undead Thread in my sleep shirt, but only I know for sure. It’s the Interwebs. People lie, so...
Intoxication? I make enough mistakes when I type, and my thoughts are too far out there to handle safely, so I try not to mix the two. ;o]
How nice. Is that original? You’re always so clever at that stuff!
“Soylent Green” is one of my Favorite Son’s favorite movies! LOL!
Sounds like somebody been watching that “Resident Alien” show on TV....
Made up especially for you...
Awww...and it’s not even my birfday! :o])
Fanks!
This is all about the profound problem that Darwin’s theory is having throughout academia. The theory is coming under sustained assault from intelligent design proponents. More fundamentally, the geneticists are saying there simply is not enough time for random mutation to account for the design of living things. Especially as complexity increases as you look more deeply into living things at smaller and smaller resolutions. Scientists have demonstrated immensely complicated biological factories at work at a tiny scale and at bottom there is the genes which are a language or a code. Scientists describe seeing the code as a bit like finding hieroglyphics on a ancient forgotten temple. Someone wrote the hieroglyphics.
I was more interesting years ago.
I suppose that we all were!
How’s the Slobber Monster? Is he officially yours?
Yup, since 12/22. He’s snoring on my bed right now.
Oh, Merry Christmas!! I’m so happy for you!! AND for the dog! Does he have an official Nully Name? And if so, does he come when called by it?
Me too.
Not some of the ones I dated...
Oh. Wait. The topic is marine animals. Sorry. I was thinking of the two-legged, four- or five-armed kind. My bad.
This isn’t quite an abiogenesis thread. Life had already begun when these supposed frozen viruses showed up from the comets, redirecting evolution.
What most people don’t realize is how the evolution of the science behind abiogenesis has turned on its ear. Because the chances of life forming from non-life is so astronomically low that it falls below the threshold of mathematically impossible. So scientists have moved their research to this kind of thing where life came from somewhere else & deposited from comets or asteroids and this is just the beginning of such postulations.
https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/evidence-for-irreducible-complexity-in-proteins/
THE TIME PROBLEM
The amoeba illustration used in Origin is adapted from the book Evolution: Possible or Impossible? by James F. Coppedge (ch. 6-7).d He constructed a fictional scenario to give readers a way to visualize the powerlessness of chance. In his memorable illustration, he set up a race between a world filled with amino acids and an amoeba .
To give protein formation (by chance) the best possible circumstances to succeed, Coppedge imagined the Earth stocked with sets of amino acids, using all the available atoms of nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen on the planet—for a total of 10^41 possible sets. Although no one knows the exact quantities of these atoms, the 10^41 sets of 20 different amino acids estimated for our experiment is a very generous total. e
We then calculated the self–assembly rate of 150-amino-acid chains at one chain per second. In the assumed 4.6-billion-year age of the earth, we could expect the construction of at least 1.45 x 10^58 chains. That is far short of the 10^164 chains that would have to self-assemble (on average) to expect one useful protein.
So, now we can ask, how long would you have to wait before the single lucky protein forms? The answer can be calculated by letting the experiment run as long as necessary to expect, on average, a successful chain to form.f Dividing the number of trials needed by the rate of formation yields a waiting time of 3.15 x 10^115 years. That’s far, far longer than the assumed age of the entire universe (13.7 x 10^9 years). In ORIGIN, we set out to visualize how much time would be involved.
About that...
When he first showed up we thought he was a Boxer. He's also very skittish. So we called him Tyson. Boxer. Chicken. Works either way.
Anna Mule control identified him as an American Bulldog.
They were supposed to turn him over to the Humane Society after his 5 days in doggy jail, he didn't do anything wrong, he was a political prisoner, being held against the possibility of his original owner showing up.
The Humane Society wouldn't accept him, too timid.
He's still chicken, but not a Boxer.
Since we got him adopted thru a local agency on the first full day of winter, he's practically a Christmas/Solstice present.
We're considering naming him Zeus.
We'll call him with a "Hey Zeus!" in honor of both the father of the Greek solstice god Apollo, and the Christmas baby.
Feliz Navidad!
And if so, does he come when called by it?
No.
He's still learning.
Yesterday he learned that if you raid the kitchen trash, you're apt to get a mouthful of coffee filter and used grounds.
LOL!
Yes, American Bulldogs look very similar to Boxers, the difference being the latter are lankier.
I suspect Zeus will not only learn to come when called, but he will live up to his name within about six months of TLC.
And all dogs must experience the mouthful of coffee grounds and the filter initiation before they realize that real food isn’t put into the thing that smells like it should be tipped over and rolled in.
He’ll be a good dog for you. Did they give an estimate on his age? Just curious.
I’m glad you have him. And even gladder that he has you! <3
He’s good for us, and vice-versa.
He thinks he’s fireproof, I keep telling him he’s tha best ose dog in the world...
All he really understands at this point is that you love him. He will return the favor by being loyal, loving and protective.
Sounds like an excellent match!
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