Humans and Aliens Might Share DNA Pattern

The building blocks of life may be more than merely common in the cosmos. Humans and aliens could share a common genetic architecture. That's the tantalizing implication of a pattern found in the formation of amino acids in meteorites, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and simulations of primordial Earth. The pattern appears to follow basic thermodynamic laws, applicable throughout the known universe. "This may implicate a universal structure of the first genetic codes anywhere," said astrophysicist Ralph Pudritz of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. There are exactly 20 known amino acids — complex molecules that combine to form proteins, which in turn compose the nucleic acids from which the simplest self-replicating structures are built. Ten were synthesized in the famous 1953 Miller-Urey experiments, which modeled conditions believed to exist in Earth's early atmosphere and volcano-heated pools. Those 10 amino acids have also been found in meteorites, prompting debate over their role in sparking life on Earth and, perhaps, elsewhere. Pudritz's analysis, co-authored with McMaster University biophysicist Paul Higgs and published Monday on arXiv, doesn't settle the former debate, but it does suggest that basic amino acids are even more common than thought, requiring little more than a relatively warm meteorite of sufficient size to form. And that's just the start. If the observed patterns of amino acid formation — simple acids require low levels of energy to coalesce, and complex acids need more energy — indeed follow thermodynamic laws, then the basic narrative of life's emergence should be universal.

blog.wired.com...

If this is true, then it gives debunkers who say that humans and aliens wouldn't look anything alike something to think about. If DNA is a common method of replication in the universe, then it stands to reason that there would be thousands -- if not millions -- of aliens who look like us or other creatures on Earth.

I thought that this was generally well understood? Evolution, Physics, Chemistry, etc, are not random events. They are observably predictable, and to the best of our knowledge - constant. So it would make sense that life which emerges in Solar systems similar to ours would share some similarities to life in ours.

Most people are familiar with A,C,G,T components of DNA - however we also carry another set of genetic code called RNA. RNA is generally a single stranded polymerase, compared to DNA's double-helix. RNA also contains the amino acid Uracil, rather than Thymine - A,C,G,U.

If the building blocks of human DNA are scattered throughout the universe then there's a good chance that there were similar human like alien beings here before our own DNAs' arrival. It's clear to see there has always been some form of thriving energy in this space.

So does this make the human race a gigantic family of lego aliens?

explosive news s n f

Neither RNA nor DNA has ever been found in a meteorite or synthesized in a Miller-Urey (variant) experiment. Ribose sugars and nucleobases have been synthesized prebiotically but not the full nucleotides and this is probably the biggest stumbling block in trying to ascertain what the first genetic systems based on nucleic acids looked like. Amino acids don't have these issues (clearly) so I expect the RNA World to continue to fall out of favor as a model for the earliest organisms.

Going back to the original topic, however there is a reason that DNA is so widely used. DNA is more structurally sound than RNA and as such, the genetic information it carries is more reliably inherited (fewer mutations). RNA is more labile which lends to its flexibility and function where folding is important (as a catalyst/ribozyme).

Unfortunately, RNA pays a price for that flexibility in that it is far less stable (degrades easily) and less capable of retaining traits passed from parent to progeny due to its higher mutation rate. RNA is also more vulnerable to environmental threats in the environment than DNA. For instance, minerals such as pyrite hydrolyze the phosphodiester backbone of RNA and while this may turn out to be relevant in the advent of metabolism (esp. ATP/GTP hydrolysis), it may be deleterious to the selection of RNA as a carrier of genetic information prior to the evolutionary origin of cells and/or protein capsids (RNA viruses).

We do not know how viruses originated or why they are the only entities which possess two genetic systems (DNA and RNA) but, if you will allow me to speculate, I suspect that RNA viruses arose after cells which already relied on single nucleotides for other biochemical processes (esp. metabolism). There was no RNA World per se but RNA as ATP, GTP, etc. was present and required for the earliest microorganisms to survive long enough to reproduce. I would not rule out the existence of an amino acid-based genetic system at some point prior to the introduction and adoption of DNA.

I would also like to add, that IF DNA exists elsewhere, and that is a big IF, it in now way means that the Human form would necessarily result. Evolution is effected by environment, and everyone knows that you can make a bazillion designs out of Legos. ET could just as likely appear in the form of Starfish.

reply to post by X-tal_Phusion

Excellent post. Have you seen this Wired article? It was linked in the one the OP used as a source.

Here's a link to the original paper: Prevolutionary Dynamics and the Origin of Evolution

very good thread op

would we have the same dna or slightly different?

Wouldnt there be different levels of intelligence, for some who may have been here longer in our galaxy or the universe or is it just dna evolves?

Kaku has a good theory on this one, type 1 species, type 2 and so on

Just imagine the more intelligent in this universe, who can maybe even manipulate atoms and go through one universe to another.

we are type 1?

Originally posted by Sparkey76
very good thread op

would we have the same dna or slightly different?

Wouldnt there be different levels of intelligence, for some who may have been here longer in our galaxy or the universe or is it just dna evolves?

Kaku has a good theory on this one, type 1 species, type 2 and so on

Just imagine the more intelligent in this universe, who can maybe even manipulate atoms and go through one universe to another.

we are type 1?

Well, as another poster mentioned, it depends on the conditions of the planet the creature evolves on, but I believe there are probably thousands of Earth-like planets in our galaxy, which means there are likely a number of creatures that evolved exactly like some of the creatures on earth, including humans.