Intro: Imagine that there are tiny microscopic organisms on your computer screen, on

your clothes or on any surface near you. Sometimes, they seem so vulnerable and
insignificant, yet precisely the opposite is true. These microorganisms may have had an
ecological role larger than even the most devoted early microbiologist could have
realized. They may have seeded life itself across space.

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Good day everyone, I am Penelofe Concepcion, the presenter of Group 3 and today, we
are discussing the Theory of Panspermia.

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There is an idea that life can be distributed throughout the universe, from planet to
planet and that the story is fascinating. Now we are going to elaborate this idea by
asking the question, what is panspermia?

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Panspermia came from the Greek word, ‘pan’ which means all and ‘sperma’ which
means seed. In context, it means mixture of all seeds or can be literally translated as
seeds everywhere. The panspermia hypothesis states that the “seeds” of life exist all
over the universe and can be propagated through space from one location to another.
And these seeds are the different microorganisms.

This is a theory that argues that life originated in space, in spatial ices, and is distributed
to the planets by comets and meteorites. This theory also states that life didn’t start here
at all, but was brought here in the form of microbes.

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But first, how did this idea come together? Let’s peek through the history of the theory of
panspermia.

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The panspermia theory first appeared in the writings of French nobleman, diplomat and
natural historian, Benoit de Mallet in 1743. He believed that life on Earth was ‘seeded’
by germs from space falling through the oceans, rather than arising through
abiogenesis.  

In the 19 century, Jons Jacob Berzelius, William Thomson and Hermann von Helmholtz
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revived the panspermia theory. William Thomson, also known as Lord Kevin stated in
1871 that, “We must regard it as highly probable that there are countless seed bearing
meteoric stones moving about in space; if no life existed on this Earth at the present
time, one such meteoric stone would be present.”
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The following are the Pioneers and Defenders of the Theory of Panspermia:

 Anaxagoras

 Benoît de Maillet

 William Thomson

 Hermann Ritcher

 Svante Arrhenius

 Francis Crick

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The 'panspermia' theory was due to the detailed hypothesis of  Swedish scientist Svants
Arrhenius, whose work won him the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903. Arrhenius
believed that life on Earth was brought here by a meteorite, but the theory never
became popular, because it seemed to raise more problems that it solved.

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Now, we are going to briefly discuss the different types of panspermia, these are the

 Interstellar Panspermia

 Interplanetary Panspermia

 Directed Panspermia

 Molecular Panspermia

 Radiopanspermia

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First we have the Interstellar Panspermia. Also known as lithopanspermia, it argues that
impact-expelled rocks from a planet’s surface serve as transfer vehicles for spreading
biological material from one solar system to another. It requires that the microorganisms
survive the impact ejection process from the planet of origin; traveling through space;
landing on a planet in another solar system.

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Next we have the Interplanetary or ballistic panspermia. It refers to rock vehicles
expelled from one planet to another, but unlike the interstellar panspermia, this
exchange happens in the same solar system.

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Third we have the Directed Panspermia. It proposes that although life on Earth could be
in charge of highly resistant bacteria that survived the hostile environment of its space
voyage, its arrival on Earth did not happen by chance. Targeted panspermia suggests
that the intentional spreading of the seeds of life to other planets are done by an
advanced extraterrestrial civilization.

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Next we have the Molecular Panspermia which explains that what really travels in space
are organic molecules, whose structures are so complex that when they encounter an
environment suitable for their development, they trigger the necessary molecular
reactions to generate life.

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Lastly we have the Radio Panspermia. This argues that these microorganisms who
traveled in space are driven by the radiation of the sun and stars. Svante Arrhenius
explained that very small particles, smaller than 0.0015 mm can be carried at a high
speed through solar radiation. Therefore, he concluded that bacterial spores can travel
on our planet because some of Earth’s interior heat is from radioactive decay.

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Now, we are going to tackle some of the scientific studies that support Panspermia.

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First is the Meteorite Allan Hills 84001. In summary, this study has the idea that life
could have its beginnings on Mars and then it traveled to Earth, this is the same as what
the interplanetary panspermia proposes.

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Next is the Studies of the German Aerospace Center. In summary, this is an

experimental study of scientists who discovered that when a bacteria or any
microorganism is inside or mixed with meteorites and comets, they are protected and
can travel to outer space.

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In conclusion, the Panspermia Theory is possibly the most supported theory, which also
has a lot of evidence to support it. However the Panspermia Theory isn't the only theory
of how life started. Just like every other theory, it is just a highly educated guess with
supporting evidence of how life started.

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Outro

Reference

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