There was an interesting documentary on the BBC recently about nothing less than the origin of life on Earth. It focused on the theory that life exists in many places in the universe and may have actually been brought to earth on a comet or other object from space.

This theory is called “Panspermia” and isn’t as far-fetched as it first may sound because a scientist who studied a strange red rain that fell in India in 2001 has found some biological cells that do not contain any DNA (edit or RNA). All life on earth contains DNA or RNA so if what this scientist says is correct then the biological cells can’t be from earth.

I find this story very interesting because the most unexplained part of the theory of evolution is how the very first single cell organisms came to exist in the first place. I find it very easy to understand how a single bacteria can develop into a more complex form of life but I can’t understand how life can come from non-living matter. The theory of Panspermia makes more sense than any of the other theories I have read about; this is probably because it doesn’t deal with how life began but how life began on earth.

The scientist who claims that the mysterious red rain that fell in India contained the alien cells is Dr Godfrey Louis who is a professor at Cochin university in Kerela. He says he has carried out various tests that back up his claim but I’m not sure if this has been independently checked. The ability of bacteria found on earth to survive the conditions in space has already been verified by Nasa who is researching specific forms of bacteria that are ideal for space travel.

Panspermia is one hundred million times more viable than creationism but if you were to bring up both theories in conversation with people they would probably find panspermia more wacky than creationism. Why does it have to be this way?

See Panspermia and Dr. Godfrey Louis.