Scientist Claims Coronavirus Brought to Earth By Meteorite
AD1184
Celestial
There are a few problems with a panspermic hypothesis of SARS-Cov-2's origin (well, actually they are legion, but here are a some):
SARS-Cov-2 is a close genetic relative of SARS-Cov-1, the virus which caused the first SARS pandemic in 2002-2004. If SARS-Cov-2 is of extraterrestrial origin, then surely so must be SARS-Cov-1, and if so, they both arrived on earth in the same country many years apart, which seems like a bizarre coincidence. SARS-Cov-2 is a much closer relative of another coronavirus strain circulating within a wild population of Chinese bats. Where did this strain come from?
If the SARS-Cov viruses are from space, then aren't by extension all coronaviruses? And if all coronaviruses are from space, then aren't a large proportion of, or all, viruses also from space?
Scientific consensus is that viruses are biological entities (not necessarily living organisms) which are the product of evolutionary processes. They consist of genetic material which is of a nature that is in common with other forms of life on earth (RNA and DNA). If they came from space, where and how did this evolution occur, and what process put the result (the viruses) into asteroids so that they could then travel to earth? What is an alternative origin hypothesis for viruses if not by biological evolution?
Viruses are not especially hardy outside of an organism, and shortly become unviable when left on surfaces or within other inorganic media. They do not deal easily with extremes of temperature or with radiation, or even simply being without a host organism. This is definitely the case with coronaviruses like SARS-Cov-2. How could they have remained viable for millions or billions of years in an asteroid? How could they have survived the bolide explosion over Songyuan last October?
I am not especially well read on the panspermia hypothesis, but I thought that the more reasonable version was that water and the complex chemical building blocks of life, like amino acids, were seeded onto earth by astronomical bodies like comets, rather than that life itself, and complex biological entities like viruses, came down to earth fully-formed.
SARS-Cov-2 is a close genetic relative of SARS-Cov-1, the virus which caused the first SARS pandemic in 2002-2004. If SARS-Cov-2 is of extraterrestrial origin, then surely so must be SARS-Cov-1, and if so, they both arrived on earth in the same country many years apart, which seems like a bizarre coincidence. SARS-Cov-2 is a much closer relative of another coronavirus strain circulating within a wild population of Chinese bats. Where did this strain come from?
If the SARS-Cov viruses are from space, then aren't by extension all coronaviruses? And if all coronaviruses are from space, then aren't a large proportion of, or all, viruses also from space?
Scientific consensus is that viruses are biological entities (not necessarily living organisms) which are the product of evolutionary processes. They consist of genetic material which is of a nature that is in common with other forms of life on earth (RNA and DNA). If they came from space, where and how did this evolution occur, and what process put the result (the viruses) into asteroids so that they could then travel to earth? What is an alternative origin hypothesis for viruses if not by biological evolution?
Viruses are not especially hardy outside of an organism, and shortly become unviable when left on surfaces or within other inorganic media. They do not deal easily with extremes of temperature or with radiation, or even simply being without a host organism. This is definitely the case with coronaviruses like SARS-Cov-2. How could they have remained viable for millions or billions of years in an asteroid? How could they have survived the bolide explosion over Songyuan last October?
I am not especially well read on the panspermia hypothesis, but I thought that the more reasonable version was that water and the complex chemical building blocks of life, like amino acids, were seeded onto earth by astronomical bodies like comets, rather than that life itself, and complex biological entities like viruses, came down to earth fully-formed.
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pepe
Celestial
It's tempting to see a virus as the organic half life ingredient to a process where when in the correct environment could evolve into a single cell reproductive life form that we could originate from. The spark of full life coming from the half would explain a lot about the number one and how it became two with no other input.
Mutation for the win.
Mutation for the win.