Jornal de Astrobiologia e Divulgação

Abstrato

Advanced Panspermia

Wojciech Konrad Kulczyk

In this study a new hypothesis of advanced panspermia is proposed. The theory of panspermia is the most plausible hypothesis for explaining the origins of life on Earth and is supported by ample evidence. The current hypothesis of panspermia doesn't explain two critical milestones in the development of advanced life on Earth: the Cambrian explosion and the human brain. The Cambrian explosion saw the almost simultaneous arrival of the major body plans of all existing animals. During this time the complexity of life increased by several orders of magnitude. The second milestone also marked an enormous increase in the complexity of life. The human brain is far more complex than the animal brain and its development took place over several stages. Several hominid groups existed during the last few million years but show no link to Homo sapiens. The genetic make-up of Neanderthals, our closest cousins, is so different from ours that our descent from them can be excluded. The proposed process of advanced panspermia explains the mechanism of these two milestones. It includes the sending of animal embryos to Earth and the genetic modification of the human embryo.