Life may have originated off of Earth
 

View: Scientists confirm that parts of earliest genetic material may have come from the stars
Source: Imperial (http://www3.imperial.ac.uk)

Abstract: "Scientists from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering discover early genetic material in space rock"
"Scientists have confirmed for the first time that an important component of early genetic material which has been found in meteorite fragments is extraterrestrial in origin, in a paper published on 15 June 2008."

So the building blocks of life may have come from space. Reading this does not affect me greatly. My perspective of where humans came from has expanded but it doesn't change a whole lot in me. I wanted to post this in philosophy to hear other people's reactions to this, but I will see if it gets enough thought here.

To me it sort of helps add up things I've thought all along.

I'm still quite certain there is life out there, in one form or another.

All it takes is the right combination of certain events and surroundings.

There is bound to be other planets like ours, we just cant explore there yet.

Very interesting article. Starts to explain our facination with heaven,

"Other" forms of life may be all around us, bisecting realities and unrecognizable. Like frequencies to the radio, if the equipment can't tune it in, you'll never get the program. One never knowing of the other. One knowing, the other not. Endless possibilities.

If a three-dimensional beach ball briefly passes through a two-dimensional universe, 2-D person may suddenly see a circle appear and disappear... A ghost? A UFO?

:paranoid:

The article is very interesting and I believe plausible. Why not?

So the precursors of nucleobases may have come from outside this solar system? That's definitely interesting, but it's not life "originating off of earth".

[quote=article]Scientists confirm that parts of earliest genetic material may have come from the stars[/article]
Who said it did come from space?

One day we'll discover extraterrestrial life. I just hope I'll be alive then.

What do you mean? It came from a meteorite that crashed on earth. What other possibilities are there?

I think she meant that the article does not definitively claim that life did originate from outerspace.

Heck, definitive or not, it does not make any claims about life - just uracil and xanthine.

this makes perfect sense to me

Yes, it is very interesting.
And as far as plausability goes...I find it to be at least as plausible as some other explainations that have been brought forward since mankind was first able wonder...why...where...and who.

No, but the stuff that makes life may very well have. Kind of like pollen and spores floating around in an open field...not? Who's to say that these same life building goodies didn't find themselves coming elsewhere?

In the end, it is just that...interesting. People will either accept or refuse the possibilities, for any number of reasons. It's just another ingredient in the soup of mysteries that make up our existence. Imagine the possibilities though...

I don't think that the pollen or spores metaphor is apt. Pollen and spores contain the genetic information required to produce the organism. Uracil on its own does not. My understanding is that there is tentative evidence that certain nucleobases may have originated from outside this solar system. This doesn't mean that these nucleobases were replicating when they got here (the function of pollen or spores).

I guess I'm more interested in how life began than how the compounds that allowed for life got here.

Very interesting article.

People should also consider that we're all effectively made of stardust, anyway. All heavy elements, elements past helium, had to be manufactured inside a star, and then spread out through space via stellar death (planetary nebulae or supernovae).

So it's definitely interesting that life-critical components may have been delivered from space, but as for life originating off of Earth, I think this is unlikely. It's possible that it could have come from Mars or elsewhere in the solar system (exchange between planets is feasible), but from beyond is highly improbable.

I'll try to back up my claims with sources later [too close to my bedtime]. In the meantime, just google "panspermia."

Warning: If you google panspermia a pregnancy may result.

Interesting article, although its also known that bacteria can survive in the vacuum of space, living inside meteors, asteroids or comets. These could have directly seeded the earth from an as of yet unknown body. No need for the precursors if the single cell organisms already exist.

Not surprising.

Really, there's our planet, and there's the rest of the universe. Which is more likely to give original rise to lifeforms?

I for one think aliens put us here. Look at all the old bible stories with tales likek people going to heaven in a firey chariot. And all the symbols you can only see from space. that's where our facination with "the heavens" comes from!

Have you read Chariots of the Gods before, thingstodo?

I think I may have read some of it years ago. Looking at its premise I'm sure I read it! The movie Stargate makes a great deal of sense as well.

Not to mention being one of the most awesome movies of all time. Like I said before, "Aliens and mythology are just two different types of popcorn fun. They can't be mixed together well, unless you are Roland Emmerich directing Stargate."

Another reasonable theory of abiogenesis. Personally, I love the beautiful simplicity demonstrated by the Miller-Urey experiment, where organic monomers formed from simple gasses which were present billions of years ago on Earth... but honestly, as long as it's not "The Earth was created 6000 years ago..." I'm fine with it.

Since we now have two elements that remind me of it, I really recommend to anyone that has not seen the series, rent or buy Cosmos: A Personal Voyage with Carl Sagan. If nothing more, you will learn that Sagan loved to use the phrase "...billions and billions..."

I believe there is a Cosmos marathon this weekend. AWESOME show.

You are correct!