Pseudo-panspermia – Wikipedia

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Supported hypothesis for the origin of life

Pseudo-panspermia (sometimes called soft panspermia, molecular panspermia or quasi-panspermia) is a well-supported hypothesis for a stage in the origin of life. The theory first asserts that many of the small organic molecules used for life originated in space (for example, being incorporated in the solar nebula, from which the planets condensed).[1][2] It continues that these organic molecules were distributed to planetary surfaces, where life then emerged on Earth and perhaps on other planets.[1][2] Pseudo-panspermia differs from the fringe theory of panspermia, which asserts that life arrived on Earth from distant planets.

Background[edit]

Theories of the origin of life have been current since the 5th century BC, when the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras proposed an initial version of panspermia: life arrived on earth from the heavens.[3] In modern times, panspermia has little support amongst mainstream scientists.[4]

Interstellar molecules are formed by chemical reactions within very sparse interstellar or circumstellar clouds of dust and gas. Usually this occurs when a molecule becomes ionised, often as the result of an interaction with cosmic rays. This positively charged molecule then draws in a nearby reactant by electrostatic attraction of the neutral molecule’s electrons. Molecules can also be generated by reactions between neutral atoms and molecules, although this process is generally slower.[5] The dust plays a critical role of shielding the molecules from the ionizing effect of ultraviolet radiation emitted by stars.[6] The Murchison meteorite contains the organic molecules uracil and xanthine,[7][8] which must therefore already have been present in the early Solar System, where they could have played a role in the origin of life.[9]

Nitriles, key molecular precursors of the RNA World scenario, are among the most abundant chemical families in the universe and have been found in molecular clouds in the center of the Milky Way, protostars of different masses, meteorites and comets, and also in the atmosphere of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.[10][11]

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Evidence for the extraterrestrial creation of organic molecules includes both their discovery in various contexts in space, and their laboratory synthesis under extraterrestrial conditions:

Extraterrestrial organic molecules found in space
Molecule Class Body Notes
Glycine Amino acid Comet NASA, 2009[12]
mixed aromatic-aliphatic compounds Cosmic dust 2011[13][14]
Glycolaldehyde Sugar-related Around a protostar Copenhagen University, 2012[15][16] Precursor of RNA[17]
Cyanomethanimine, Ethanimine Imines Icy particles in interstellar space Precursors of nucleobase adenine, and of amino acid alanine[18]
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) widespread, 20% of carbon in universe NASA, 2014[19]
Glycine,
Methylamine,
Ethylamine		 Amino acid, amines Coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Rosetta Mission, 2016[20]
Uracil, Niacin Nucleobase, vitamer 162173 Ryugu Hayabusa2, 2023[21][22]

Planetary distribution of organic molecules[edit]

Organic molecules can then be distributed to planets including Earth both when the planets formed and later. If the materials from which planets formed contained organic molecules, and were not destroyed by heat or other processes, then these would be available for abiogenesis on those planets.

Later distribution is by means of bodies such as comets and asteroids. These may fall to the planetary surface as meteorites, releasing any molecules they are carrying as they vaporise on impact or later as they erode. Findings of organic molecules in meteorites include:

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Klyce, Brig (2001). “Panspermia Asks New Questions”. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b Klyce, Brig (2001). “Panspermia asks new questions”. In Kingsley, Stuart A; Bhathal, Ragbir (eds.). The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum III. Proc. SPIE. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum III. Vol. 4273. pp. 11–14. Bibcode:2001SPIE.4273…11K. doi:10.1117/12.435366. S2CID 122849901.
  3. ^ Kolb, Vera M.; Clark III, Benton C. (13 July 2020). “10”. Astrobiology for a General Reader: A Question and Answers – Panspermia hypothesis. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-5275-5502-0. Retrieved 3 May 2022. The Panspermia hypothesis states that life exists elsewhere in the universe, and could be distributed far and wide. This idea was first introduced by the ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras (5th Century BC), who believed that the universe is made of an infinite number of seeds (“spermata” in Greek). Upon reaching the Earth, these seeds gave rise to life. Anaxagorus introduced the term “Panspermia”, which in Greek means literally “seeds everywhere”.
  4. ^ May, Andrew (2019). Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe. London. ISBN 978-1-78578-342-5. OCLC 999440041. Although they were part of the scientific establishment – Hoyle at Cambridge and Wickramasinghe at the University of Wales – their views on the topic were far from mainstream, and panspermia remains a fringe theory
  5. ^ Dalgarno, A. (2006). “The galactic cosmic ray ionization rate”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 (33): 12269–73. Bibcode:2006PNAS..10312269D. doi:10.1073/pnas.0602117103. PMC 1567869. PMID 16894166.
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  20. ^ “Prebiotic chemicals – amino acid and phosphorus – in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko”.
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