Cometary panspermia and origin of life?

Adv Genet. 2020:106:5-20. doi: 10.1016/bs.adgen.2020.03.003. Epub 2020 Jul 7.

Abstract

A range of astronomical observations are shown to be in accord with the theory of cometary panspermia. This theory posits that comets harbor a viable biological component in the form of bacteria and viruses that led to origin and evolution of life on Earth. The data includes (1) infrared, visual and ultraviolet spectra of interstellar dust, (2) infrared spectra of the dust released from comet Halley in 1986, (3) infrared spectra of comet Hale-Bopp in 1997, (4) near and mid-infrared spectra of comet Tempel I in 2005, (5) the discovery of an amino acid and degradation products attributable to biology in the material recovered from the Stardust Mission in 2009, (6) jets from comet Lovejoy showing both a sugar and Ethyl alcohol and finally, (7) a diverse set of data that has emerged from the Rosetta mission. The conjunction of all the available data points to cometary biology and interstellar panspermia as being inevitable.

Keywords: Comets; Cosmic biology; Interstellar dust; Life comes from life; Louis Pasteur; Origins of life; Panspermia.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acids
  • Animals
  • Bacteria
  • Cosmic Dust*
  • Humans
  • Origin of Life*
  • Viruses

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Cosmic Dust