Detection of Living Cells in The Stratosphere
On the 20 January 2001 the Indian Space Research Organisation conducted a balloon flight from Hyderabad, India to collect stratospheric dust from a height of 41 km with a view to testing for the presence of living cells. The collaborators on this project included a team of UK scientists led by Wickramasinghe. In a paper presented at a SPIE conference in San Diego in 2002 the detection of evidence for viable microorganisms from 41 km was presented. An image of a clump of microorganisms from 41 km fluorescing on application of a carbocyanine dye (indicating viability) is shown in the left panel, and scanning electron microscope image of a similar clump is shown on the right panel:
Arguments still rage as to whether these represent incoming microbes from space, or microbes carried up to 41 km from the surface of the Earth.
Wickramasinghe and his mentor, Fred Hoyle, have also used their data to argue in favor of cosmic ancestry.
| “ | "Once again the Universe gives the appearance of being biologically constructed, and on this occasion on a truly vast scale. Once again those who consider such thoughts to be too outlandish to be taken seriously will continue to do so. While we ourselves shall continue to take the view that those who believe they can match the complexities of the Universe by simple experiments in their laboratories will continue to be disappointed." | ” |
Wickramasinghe attempts to present scientific "evidence" to support the notion of cosmic ancestry and hypothesize on "the possibility of high intelligence in the Universe and of many increasing levels of intelligence converging toward a God as an ideal limit." During the 1981 scientific creationist trial in Arkansas, Wickramasinghe was the single scientist testifying for the defense of creationism.
In 2005 the ISRO group carried out a second stratospheric sampling experiment from 41 km altitude and reported the isolation of three new species of bacteria including one that they named Janibacter hoylei sp.nov. in honour of the late Sir Fred Hoyle. However, such arguments are insecure: if a vast majority of bacteria on Earth had originated in a cosmic environment such genetic similarities are indeed to be expected. Samplings of the stratosphere have also been carried out by Yang et al (2005, 2009) who isolated highly radiation-resistant strains of Deinococci from heights upto 35 km. These authors have even discussed the relevance of their discoveries explicitly to panspermia (Yang et al, 2005, 2009).
Read more about this topic: Chandra Wickramasinghe
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