Life began elsewhere...a third way?

[rov1100]

Does this report by an eminent scientist defunct the idea that life was created on Earth upsetting both religious and Darwinism concepts? For instance whole DNA sequences have been found in meteorites could mean that life started elsewere.

http://www.dailymail....-Is-proof-aliens.html

[MarkRae]

It's in the Daily Mail so it must be true.

"...this fossilised bacteria from a meteorite is..."

Tsk! Tsk!

[rov1100]

God's disciples and the church have been spouting out claptrap for years but many still take notice. At least the Daily Mail is topical and open to interrogation.

[bibblebub]

Has no effect on Darwinism, even if true.

[SUSPECT]

Mark if you read it they did not make the story up

http://iopscience.iop.org/1475-7516/

[jomifl]

It is a theory.. nothing proven yet.. and not likely ever to be proven, along with the theory that life started on earth. Obviously it started somewhere, at the moment it is a matter of the balance of probabilities. Nothing to get excited about, even though it was in the daily mail.

[sandyRoe]

God sprinkled a little magic stardust in the shape of meteorites and set life here in motion.
He moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.

[jomifl]

But that is just allegory right?

[carrot99]

Suspect - I think MarkRae can believe the science but not the grammar.

[DTCwordfan]

The King William V Bible (fore-written)

Two meteorites had a baby.....complete with DNA.

"What shall we call him, Mummy Meteorite?"

"I think that Rock would be a nice name."

[Mosaic]

A fourth way - the bottom of my fridge right at the back. I am not a rigorous housekeeper.

[GetOverIt]

Do you mean DEBUNK?

[douglas9401]

No, de fridge

[Mosaic]

Lol dougie!

[Tim123]

It isn't a theory, it's barely a hypothesis. It's a million miles from being what a scientist would call a theory.

[jomifl]

Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe put forward the same hypothesis/theory about 40 years ago so it is not new. It still begs the question 'how did life begin' though.It is a bit like explaining the exisence of the universe by attributing it's creation to a 'god'

[Huderon]

Well we already know that bacteria can survive in space - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/...-environment-11039206

But this report is more likely to be along the lines of the one some years ago when there were claims that fossil bacteria had been found in a meteorite which had originated on Mars. Until someone comes across living bacteria or, less likely, something more substantial) which have an obviously alien origin it's going to remain a theoretical possibility

[beso]

This "discovery" is by the same scientist who decided he had found fossilised bacteria in a Martian meteorite several years ago. That claim was eventually debunked as I expect this one will too.

Using structure in a fossil as the basis for evidence for life is flawed because mineral produce structures quite similar to biological structures. This similarity is no accident because life arose in mineral structures.

Whole DNA sequences have been found in meteorites? Nucleotides have been found but what constitutes a "whole DNA sequence"? Two nucleotides stuck together?

[jomifl]

Quite, Beso.

[rov1100]

Except that a bacteria has many more nucleotides than this. Just take E-Coli.

///The 4,639,221-base pair sequence of Escherichia coli K-12 is presented. Of 4288 protein-coding genes ///

Although the find is of a simple bacteria it just goes to show the detail involved/.

[rojash]

The "eminent scientist" has been making this announcement repeatedly for years