Knowledge Resource Center for Ecological Environment in Arid Area
| DOI | 10.1016/j.shpsc.2007.09.007 |
| Epistemological issues in the study of microbial life: alternative terran biospheres? | |
| Cleland, Carol E. | |
| 通讯作者 | Cleland, CE |
| 来源期刊 | STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE PART C-STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDIAL SCIENCES
 |
| ISSN | 1369-8486 |
| EISSN | 1879-2499 |
| 出版年 | 2007 |
| 卷号 | 38期号:4页码:847-861 |
| 英文摘要 | The assumption that all life on Earth today shares the same basic molecular architecture and biochemistry is part of the paradigm of modern biology. This paper argues that there is little theoretical or empirical support for this widely held assumption. Scientists know that life could have been at least modestly different at the molecular level and it is clear that alternative molecular building blocks for life were available on the early Earth. If the emergence of life is, like other natural phenomena, highly probable given the right chemical and physical conditions then it seems likely that the early Earth hosted multiple origins of life, some of which produced chemical variations on life as we know it. While these points are often conceded, it is nevertheless maintained that any primitive alternatives to familiar life would have been eliminated long ago, either amalgamated into a single form of life through lateral gene transfer (LGT) or alternatively out-competed by our putatively more evolutionarily robust form of life. Besides, the argument continues, if such life forms still existed, we surely would have encountered telling signs of them by now. These arguments do not hold up well under close scrutiny. They reflect a host of assumptions that are grounded in our experience with large multicellular organisms and, most importantly, do not apply to microbial forms of life, which cannot be easily studied without the aid of sophisticated technologies. Significantly, the most powerful molecular biology techniques available-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of rRNA genes augmented by metagenomic analysis-could not detect such microbes if they existed. Given the profound philosophical and scientific importance that such a discovery would represent, a dedicated search for 'shadow microbes' (heretofore unrecognized 'alien' forms of terran microbial life) seems in order. The best place to start such a search is with puzzling (anomalous) phenomena, such as desert varnish, that resist classification as 'biological' or 'nonbiological'. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
| 英文关键词 | Origins of life Microbial biodiversity Alternative biosphere Alternative life forms Shadow microbes |
| 类型 | Article |
| 语种 | 英语 |
| 收录类别 | ESCI |
| WOS记录号 | WOS:000437223300012 |
| WOS类目 | History & Philosophy Of Science |
| WOS研究方向 | History & Philosophy of Science |
| 资源类型 | 期刊论文 |
| 条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/328968 |
| 作者单位 | [Cleland, Carol E.] Univ Colorado, Ctr Astrobiol, Philosophy Dept, Boulder, CO 80309 USA |
| 推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Cleland, Carol E.. Epistemological issues in the study of microbial life: alternative terran biospheres?[J],2007,38(4):847-861. |
| APA | Cleland, Carol E..(2007).Epistemological issues in the study of microbial life: alternative terran biospheres?.STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE PART C-STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDIAL SCIENCES,38(4),847-861. |
| MLA | Cleland, Carol E.."Epistemological issues in the study of microbial life: alternative terran biospheres?".STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE PART C-STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDIAL SCIENCES 38.4(2007):847-861. |
| 条目包含的文件 | 条目无相关文件。 | |||||
| 个性服务 |
| 推荐该条目 |
| 保存到收藏夹 |
| 导出为Endnote文件 |
| 谷歌学术 |
| 谷歌学术中相似的文章 |
| [Cleland, Carol E.]的文章 |
| 百度学术 |
| 百度学术中相似的文章 |
| [Cleland, Carol E.]的文章 |
| 必应学术 |
| 必应学术中相似的文章 |
| [Cleland, Carol E.]的文章 |
| 相关权益政策 |
| 暂无数据 |
| 收藏/分享 |
除非特别说明，本系统中所有内容都受版权保护，并保留所有权利。
