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Home , 2018 in science, 2019 in science, Chandra Wickramasinghe, Cosmic ancestry, Cosmic dust, Diseases from Space

35 books: Cosmic origins of 1976-2020 Physical ︱ Cometary A radical theory of life’s cosmic origin and …And over 450 articles, ~ 60 in

he combined efforts of generations supporting panspermia continues to Prof Wickramasinghe argues that the seeds of all life ( and ) Panspermia has been around may have arrived on from space, and may indeed still be raining down some 100 years since the term of experts in multiple , accumulate (Wickramasinghe et al., 2018, to affect life on Earth today, a concept known as cometary panspermia. ‘’, referring to Tincluding evolutionary , 2019; Steele et al., 2018). the primitive ocean of organic and geology, have painted material not-yet-assembled a fairly good, if far-from-complete, picture COMETARY PANSPERMIA – cultural conceptions of life dating back galactic wanderers are normal features have argued that these could not into living , was first of how the first life on Earth progressed A SOLUTION? to the ideas of Aristotle, and that this of the . are known to have been lofted from the Earth to a coined. The question of how from simple organisms to what we can The word ‘panspermia’ comes from the may be the source of some of the have significant content as well height of 400km by any known process. life’s molecular building blocks see today. However, there is a crucial ancient Greek roots ‘sperma’ meaning more hostile resistance the idea of as organics, and their cores, kept warm Bacteria have also been found high in spontaneously assembled gap in mainstream understanding - seed, and ‘pan’, meaning all. In the panspermia commonly evokes. If and by natural radioactivity, are argued by the , residing naturally up themselves into something how life’s chemical building blocks model of cometary panspermia, the first when the concept is conceded it will Wickramasinghe to contain pockets of to 41km above Earth’s surface (Harris et that could self-replicate – an assembled themselves into something life on Earth did not spring into being surely rank among al. 2002; Wainwright informationally mega-rich living that would self-replicate and evolve into in some nutrient-rich pocket of the the most important et al. 2004). Microbial – remains unanswered. the magnificent panorama of life on ocean, but arrived on Earth from comets. breakthroughs in The Earth is then just another habitat communities have Meanwhile Chandra our . After decades of research Furthermore, it wasn’t a single, special, over a century. been found surviving Wickramasinghe and his team of and experimentation, no one has yet that brought life to Earth - rather, amongst many trillions in the cosmos, after 100 million international collaborators have been able to produce or propose a the cosmos is awash with life in the form of BUT HOW CAN years buried under been arguing that the seeds of where the cosmic legacy of life is firm mechanism by which life could bacteria and viruses. These microbes are LIFE SURVIVE IN ocean sediment all life (bacteria and viruses) may spontaneously emerge from inanimate stored and nurtured in comets and SPACE? nourished and can thrive. (Morono et al. 2020). instead have arrived on Earth material. Proponents of a theory called and are present in interstellar clouds. In the theory The observed ability from space, and may indeed still cometary panspermia argue that the of cometary panspermia, comets are liquid water for microbes to survive in of life to survive in hostile conditions, be raining down to affect life on speed at which life emerged on Earth, This idea sounds utterly out of place carriers of life, providing a stable vehicle (Hoyle and Wickramasinghe, 1985). or lie close-to-dormant for millions of Earth today, a concept known as combined with the exceedingly long alongside common conceptions of to transport bacteria and viruses across years and emerge to create healthy cometary panspermia. odds of the random assembly of self- Earth as the only known refuge for space, between clouds Bacteria have been found able populations, lends some credence to replicating , would make the life in an otherwise barren and hostile and systems. With the recent to survive on the outside of the idea of cosmic comet-bound travel. spontaneous appearance of life on Earth cosmos. Wickramansinghe argues that observations of two comets visiting our the International Space Station nothing short of miraculous (Hoyle and panspermia not only goes against the from elsewhere (‘Oumouma (Grebennikova, T.V., et al. 2018). But comets are still bleak, barren objects Wickramasinghe, 1982, 2000). Meanwhile prevailing scientific doctrines regarding and Comet Borisov), we can see that Wickramasinghe and Rycroft (2018) fully exposed to the intense radioactive a diverse range of scientific evidence life, but ingrained, long-term western

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www.researchfeatures.com www.researchfeatures.com Behind the Research Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe

E: [email protected] T: +44 7778389243 W: https://profchandra.org/ W: https://panspermia.org/ Research Objectives Detail Panspermia proposes that bodies such as comets transported life forms such as bacteria—complete with Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe has made ground-breaking Bio their DNA—through space to the Earth. contributions to exploring the nature of cosmic dust, its role in Professor Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe was born in , and its relevance to the understanding of life in the . and educated at Royal College, and commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panspermie_2.0.svg later at the . In 1960 he obtained a First Class Honours degree in and bombardment and extremes As mentioned previously, life has been in a 2018 paper, the unique features and References won a Commonwealth scholarship to Trinity College of space. Is it really possible that found by high altitude balloons flown rapid evolution of octopi were argued Cambridge. He commenced work in Cambridge on his PhD degree under the supervision of the late Sir Fred organisms ferried on comets would be into the stratosphere (Harris et al. 2002). to be taken as signals of the presence of Grebennikova T.V., et al. (2018). The DNA of Bacteria of the World Ocean and the Earth in Cosmic Dust at the International Space Station. Scientific Hoyle, and published his first scientific paper in 1961. able to seed a planet after tens of millions One possible explanation as to how these alien DNA (Steele et al. 2018). Pandemics World Journal. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7360147 He was awarded a PhD degree in 1963, ScD degree in of years in transit? Survival may indeed be bacteria got there is strong winds blowing of throughout history and Harris, M.J, et al. (2002). Detection of living cells in stratospheric samples. 1973, and was a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge possible in the protected deep interiors them up from the surface. However, even now may well have a cometary Proc. SPIE 4495, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for IV, (5 from 1963−1973. He was also a Staff Member of the February 2002) Institute of at the of comets, but what of survival once living Wickramasinghe asserts that this is not provenance according to Wickramasinghe over the same period. Here he began his pioneering cells leave the comets? possible and they may in fact be raining (Hoyle and Wickramasinghe, 1979, Qu Hoyle, F., Wickramasinghe, N.C., (1979). . J.M. Dent work on the nature of Interstellar Dust, publishing many and Sons, Lond. down directly from space, at the prolific and Wickramasinghe, 2020, Steele et papers in this field that led to important paradigm shifts Hoyle, F., Wickramasinghe, N.C., (1982). Evolution from Space. J.M. Dent The harsh environment of space may rate of tonnes of microbes per day over al. 2020). in astronomy. He was a Professor at University College and Sons, Lond. Cardiff and from 1974−2011. He has indeed wipe out the vast majority of any the whole Earth (Wainwright et al. 2004, Hoyle, F., Wickramasinghe, N.C., (1985). Living Comets. University College held visiting Professorial appointments in the US, iterant life, but life is, by definition, good Wickramasinghe et al. 2020). THE FUTURE OF PANSPERMIA Cardiff Press, Cardiff and and Sri Lanka at various . In 1983/84 he at surviving and replicating exponentially. The theory of panspermia and its Morono, Y., et al. (2020). Aerobic microbial life persists in oxic marine was Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka and Founder Director of the Institute of Fundamental Studies If only a few viable microbes, of an initial If this is indeed the case, and Earth will profound implications have attracted sediment as old as 101.5 million years. Nat Comm 11, https://doi. org/10.1038/s41467-020-17330-1 in Sri Lanka. He is currently Honorary Professor at the population of trillions, survive the transit be subject to a constant rain of alien sustained, strong often irrational rebukes , UK, , Sri Slijepcivic, P. and Wickramasinghe, C. (2021). Reconfiguring SETI in the Lanka and an Adjunct Professor at the National Institute between viable planets, then these microbes, it stands to reason that we from multiple scientific disciplines microbial context: Panspermia as a solution to Fermi’s paradox. Biosystems of Fundamental Research in Sri Lanka. comet-borne microbes could be the should be able to detect alien ranging from astrophysics to to 206, 104441 (see also - https://theconversation.com/seti-how-microbes- seeds of life on multiple worlds. Indeed, by sequencing wild bacteria. However, epidemiology. However, its champions, could-communicate-with-alien--160323) Funding Institute for the Study of Panspermia and transfer of life was calculated to be viable the amount that could be raining down like Chandra Wickramansinghe, remain Steele, E. J., et al. (2020). Origin of new emergent and Astroeconomics, Gifu, Japan; Astrobiology Research 24 Candida fungal diseases—Terrestrial or cosmic? In Adv in Genet 106, pp. if only 1 in 10 microbes survive the would be miniscule compared to what undaunted supporters maintaining that 75-98 Trust, Memphis, TN, USA journey (Hoyle and Wickramasinghe, already lies on Earth’s biologically rich evidence is all that , and the Steele, E.J., et al. (2018). Cause of Cambrian explosion-terrestrial or Collaborators 2000). Wickramasinghe uses the analogy surface, and would be exceedingly hard evidence is in their favour. cosmic? Prog Biophys & Mol BIol, 136, pp.3-23 Dayal Wickramasinghe, Max K. Wallis, Christopher Tout, of seeds scattered in the - only to detect. As such, Wickramansinghe Wainwright, M., et al. (2004). Confirmation of the presence of viable but Gensuke Tokoro Edward J. Steele, Robert Temple, a few will take root and survive to non-culturable bacteria in the stratosphere, Int J Astrobiol. 3(1), pp.13–15. Predrag Slijepcevic and numerous others. adulthood, but they will then be able Wickramasinghe, N.C. (2013). DNA sequencing and predictions of the cosmic theory of life, Astrophysics & Space Science, 343(1), 1-5 to produce thousands more seeds, and Bacteria have been found able to Personal Response continue the cycle. Wickramasinghe, N.C. and Rycroft, M.J. (2018). On the difficulty of the survive on the outside of the transport of electrically charged submicron dust from the Earth’s surface to the high , Adv in Astrophysics, 3(3) We know that the Universe has a finite age, so life too must have had a beginning. Panspermia In the theory of cometary panspermia, life International Space Station. Wickramasinghe, N.C. et al. (2020). Search for bacteria and viruses in the can explain how life came to Earth, but how could stratosphere, Adv in Astrophysics, 5(2) resides on countless planets and in dust it solve the problem of the origin of life in the clouds, riding between viable habitats strongly advocates for further study of Wickramasinghe has asked if our ongoing Wickramasinghe, N.C., et al. (2018). Comets, Enceledus and panspermia, Universe? Astrophysics & Space Science, 363:244 on comets. The Earth is then just another microbes found in the high , attempts at , including Attempts to prove the rival theory of Earth-centred “island” habitat, one amongst many arguing that the genetics of microbes SETI (the search for extraterrestrial Wickramasinghe, N.C., et al. (2019). Cosmic biology in perspective. that have continued for well over half a Astrophysics & Space Science, 364, 205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509- trillions in the cosmos, where life could be collected in the high atmosphere, and intelligence), are truly the first steps for century have led to failure thus far, and our assessment 019-3698-6 of the super-astronomical improbability of a simple nurtured and can thrive uninterrupted for any success or failure to detect alien humanity to discover its place in the Wickramasinghe, C., 2005. A Journey with : The search for living system arising from non-life gives little hope of billions of years. DNA, could be sufficient to prove or universe, or perhaps they reflect the cosmic life (World Scientific Publ., Singapore) this being ever proved. On the other hand, the theory disprove panspermia. expression of an innate knowledge that Wickramasinghe, C., 2014. The Search for Our (World of cometary panspermia first discussed by the late Sir Scientific Publ., Singapore) AND IS ALIEN LIFE STILL we are indeed part of a vast cosmic Fred Hoyle and myself in 1980, continues to yield an Wickramansinghe believes that this rich community of life (Slijepcivic and Wickramasinghe, C., 2015. Where did we come from? Life of an unbroken astounding record of correspondences of ARRIVING NOW? Astrobiologist (World Scientific Publ., Singapore) its predictions to new data and new observations. I If life was present throughout the source of genetic information, including Wickramasinghe, 2021). If this were true, Wickramasinghe, C., et al. 2019. Our Cosmic Ancestry in the , Bear & maintain that wrong theories do not show up in such cosmos, and it was through cometary viruses, raining down constantly, may it would surely inspire a great change Co., Rochester, Vermont, USA a way. Over a period of four decades there have been dust that life arrived on Earth, then have strongly influenced (and continues in our understanding of ourselves https://panspermia.org/ ample opportunities for “disproof” of the theory in a surely it would still be raining down on to influence) evolutionary development and our relationship with the cosmos. Popperian sense. This has not happened. I think it is that the veil of cultural prejudice that impedes the Earth. Wickramasinghe believes this to on Earth (Hoyle and Wickramasinghe, Wickramasinghe firmly believes that this is acceptance of facts is lifted once and for all. be the case. 1982; Wickramasinghe, 2013). Indeed, the case. Only time will tell.

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