There are questions about how scientific we can be when it comes to speculating on the history of life on Earth, after reading a summary of decades of research on a rather 'out-there' idea involving viruses from space.
It's easy to describe the scientific fringe with words such as crackpot, rogue, and maverick, but then the papers of the year after leave us unsure of where to start.
A total of 33 names were listed as authors on the review, which was published in August of last year. It's not small or a niche pay-for-publish source.
Stephen Fleischfresser wrote about the background of two of the better known scientists involved: Edward Steele and Chandra Wickramasinghe. It's worth a read.
Steele is an immunologist who has a fringe reputation for his views on evolution that relies on the influence of the environment to acquire genes.
Sir Fred Hoyle's hypothesis about the production of complex carbon molecule on interstellar dust has been confirmed by the career of Wickramasinghe.
They were responsible for another space biology thesis. This one is more than just the origins of organic chemistry.
The thesis of Cometary (cosmic) Biology by Hoyle Wickramasinghe claims that the direction of evolution has been affected by biochemistry that didn't start on our planet.
"Comets are the carriers and distributors of life in the universe, and life on Earth arose and developed as a result of cometary inputs", according to the author.
The inputs aren't limited to a generous sprinkling of space-baked amino acids either.
They include viruses that insert themselves into organisms, pushing their evolution into new directions.
The report concludes that a rain of extra-terrestrial retroviruses played a key role in the evolution of life in the oceans.
The authors wrote that if retroviruses and other viruses are liberated in cometary debris trails, they can potentially add new DNA to the genomes of humans.
Let that sink in for a second. Take a deep breath, because that was the tame part.
During this time, 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.
The genetics of these organisms are as weird as the animals themselves, due to their ability to modify their genes on the fly.
The authors of the paper claim that these genetic quirks might be a sign of life in space.
Whole genomes are frozen in stasis before they thaw out in our waters.
They wrote that the possibility that squid and/or octopus eggs arrived in icy bolides several hundred million years ago should not be discounted.
The H-W thesis is supported by a lot of evidence, such as the curious timelines of the appearance of viruses, according to a review by a medical researcher.
That's not how science progresses.
Baverstock argued that the paper justified skepticism of the scientific value of stand alone theories of the origin of life.
The weight of plausible, but non-definitive, evidence is not the point.
The idea is novel and exciting, but the summary doesn't help us understand the history of life on Earth any better than we already know.
With solid caveat in place, maybe science can cope with a generous dose of crazy every now and then.
Denis Noble admits that more research is needed.
There is room for discussion regarding the developments in space-based organic chemistry.
"As space chemistry and biology grow in importance, it is appropriate for a journal devoted to the interface between physics and biology to encourage the debates," said Noble.
The ideas will become testable in the future.
If the tests confirm the rumors, we recommend being prepared for the return of the overlords. Who knows when they'll want the eggs back?
The research was published in the journal.
The first version of this article was published in August.
