Astrovirology: Viruses at Large in the Universe

Berliner, Aaron J.; Mochizuki, Tomohiro; Stedman, Kenneth M.

doi:10.1089/ast.2017.1649

Cited by 39 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 165 publications

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“…Based on the work in this paper, we conclude that viruses could certainly propagate across the Milky Way. While the direct detection of extraterrestrial viruses on an exoplanet is not currently feasible, indirect detection through biosignatures might be possible via geochemical signatures (see Berliner et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Galactic Panspermia

Ginsburg

Lingam

Loeb

2018

ApJL

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We present an analytic model to estimate the total number of rocky or icy objects that could be captured by planetary systems within the Milky Way galaxy and result in panspermia should they harbor life. We estimate the capture rate of objects ejected from planetary systems over the entire phase space as well as time. Our final expression for the capture rate depends upon the velocity dispersion as well as the characteristic biological survival time and the size of the captured object. We further take into account the number of stars that an interstellar object traverses, as well as the scale height and length of the Milky Way's disk. The likelihood of Galactic panspermia is strongly dependent upon the survival lifetime of the putative organisms as well as the velocity of the transporter. Velocities between 10 − 100 km s −1 result in the highest probabilities. However, given large enough survival lifetimes, even hypervelocity objects traveling at over 1000 km s −1 have a significant chance of capture, thereby increasing the likelihood of panspermia. Thus, we show that panspermia is not exclusively relegated to solar-system sized scales, and the entire Milky Way could potentially be exchanging biotic components across vast distances.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Galactic Panspermia

Ginsburg

Lingam

Loeb

2018

ApJL

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“…Viruses are the only living entities that may exchange genetic sequences as module-like tools between double-stranded DNA, single-stranded DNA, single-stranded RNA, double-stranded RNA, and retroviruses. Most interestingly, they may cooperate and compete as viral clouds in parallel (Koonin et al, 2015;Stedman, 2015Stedman, , 2018Berliner et al, 2018).…”

Section: Virus Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is Life?

Witzany¹

2020

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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In searching for life in extraterrestrial space, it is essential to act based on an unequivocal definition of life. In the twentieth century, life was defined as cells that self-replicate, metabolize, and are open for mutations, without which genetic information would remain unchangeable, and evolution would be impossible. Current definitions of life derive from statistical mechanics, physics, and chemistry of the twentieth century in which life is considered to function machine like, ignoring a central role of communication. Recent observations show that context-dependent meaningful communication and network formation (and control) are central to all life forms. Evolutionary relevant new nucleotide sequences now appear to have originated from social agents such as viruses, their parasitic relatives, and related RNA networks, not from errors. By applying the known features of natural languages and communication, a new twenty-first century definition of life can be reached in which communicative interactions are central to all processes of life. A new definition of life must integrate the current empirical knowledge about interactions between cells, viruses, and RNA networks to provide a better explanatory power than the twentieth century narrative.

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“…They are characterized by a great ability to modulate genomic content and by permanent evolutionary adaptability. They may recombine not only with each other but also with those that have single‐ or double‐stranded RNA or DNA genomes …”

Section: Viruses and Their Relativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They may recombine not only with each other but also with those that have single-or double-stranded RNA or DNA genomes. [89][90][91] They retain the ability to bridge RNA and DNA living domains. In bridging the RNA-and proteinbased cellular worlds, they are also the main drivers of the adaptability of cells by introducing RNA interaction motifs into cells.…”

Section: Viruses and Their Relativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

That is life: communicating RNA networks from viruses and cells in continuous interaction

Villarreal

Witzany²

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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All the conserved detailed results of evolution stored in DNA must be read, transcribed, and translated via an RNA‐mediated process. This is required for the development and growth of each individual cell. Thus, all known living organisms fundamentally depend on these RNA‐mediated processes. In most cases, they are interconnected with other RNAs and their associated protein complexes and function in a strictly coordinated hierarchy of temporal and spatial steps (i.e., an RNA network). Clearly, all cellular life as we know it could not function without these key agents of DNA replication, namely rRNA, tRNA, and mRNA. Thus, any definition of life that lacks RNA functions and their networks misses an essential requirement for RNA agents that inherently regulate and coordinate (communicate to) cells, tissues, organs, and organisms. The precellular evolution of RNAs occurred at the core of the emergence of cellular life and the question remained of how both precellular and cellular levels are interconnected historically and functionally. RNA networks and RNA communication can interconnect these levels. With the reemergence of virology in evolution, it became clear that communicating viruses and subviral infectious genetic parasites are bridging these two levels by invading, integrating, coadapting, exapting, and recombining constituent parts in host genomes for cellular requirements in gene regulation and coordination aims. Therefore, a 21st century understanding of life is of an inherently social process based on communicating RNA networks, in which viruses and cells continuously interact.

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Astrovirology: Viruses at Large in the Universe

Cited by 39 publications

References 165 publications

Galactic Panspermia

Galactic Panspermia

What is Life?

That is life: communicating RNA networks from viruses and cells in continuous interaction

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