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.
Warmer here today, with some (solely needed!) rain... hope that we get more than forecast...
I've heard something similar from a pastor long ago... it is a good one!
I suppose that a lot of that depends on his age and overall well being... is he robust enough to make that transition quickly?
Yep. It’s a tough one, alright.
I just got it, and I had to “cheat.” I had to look up words containing the letters. Five tries, altogether. I didn’t get yesterday’s either.
This one really has me stumped... can't even think of a word to venture for row 4...
Yeah, I find a lot I want to use as taglines, but sometimes, I find them on the same day, and they don’t have quite the impact if I take them down too soon.
from today’s Daily Mail UK....
‘I wasn’t trying to rob him... I’m not an eejit!’ Irishman who brought his dead uncle into a post office to collect his pension insists he was alive when they set off but then ‘went a bit slumpy’
Lol!
He didn't retire.
Anyway, I think there was some stress because he and my wife got kicked out of the hospital before they even knew what was going on and there was precious little time to prepare. But I was also thinking you get into "what do I have to do mode" and "let me help her be as cheereful as possible" mode and save the rest for when you're alone.
He’s not that internet savvy and his wife isn’t logical.
But we’ll get him there.
In reality, EVERYTHING CAME FROM SPACE! One way or another!......................
I got there in 4. My first 2 words gave me 3 letters, one in the right place. LMK if you want a hint.
Wordle 219 4/6
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
That’s the way I was raised and behaved...set aside personal emotions and feelings to provide immediate and sustained aid as required without reservation. Bitching and moaning does no good to anyone.
Though surprised that with his background that he might not have assesed apparent and potential damage at the time of the fall....even my Sr. First Aid instruction taught me that. Well she knows him best. Prayers up for her recovery.
He was drafted for Korea. When he finished basic he mentioned that he hadn’t joined the Navy to go pound the ground with Marines. So he got sent to technician’s school and became an X-ray tech. He spent his war service in Boston harbor.
He did have to sweep a ship for bodies when it exploded in the harbor.
Didn’t want to say something like that but kind of guessed he wasn’t a field corpsman. Still....
I got the 3rd and last letter after two rows, but my third row was a waste.
Struggled with the remaining consonants to form a starting pair of consonants....
Yes, I had to really noodle on the options before I figured the way to go.
Mine!
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