Ancient DNA boosts hope for alien life

Ancient DNA boosts hope for alien life

Ancient bacteria can survive nearly half a million years in the harsh, frozen conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic, researchers said Monday in a study that suggests life could exist in Martian permafrost or ice-covered oceans on alien worlds.

Willerslev said the DNA discoveries could offer clues to better understand aging — and point to the best places to look for traces of alien life as well. “When it can live half a million years on Earth, it makes it very promising it could survive on Mars for a very long time,” Willerslev said. “Permafrost would be an excellent place to look for life on Mars.”

And so we have even more tantalizing hints about the possibility of microbial life on Mars. Just what are researchers trying to tell us? Lots and lots of hints but no real admissions or confirmations, at least not from the science community as a whole. If I didn't know any better I would think that we are being prepared for an announcement that life has been discovered on Mars. Since I do know better, I won't make such a naive statement. However, I do have a couple of questions. Since researchers at academic institutions are often funded by private interests, is it likely that news of alien life, any kind of alien life, would not be revealed to the general public because of the race to patent genetic material by bio-genetic firms? From grain to livestock, genetically modified organisms are becoming more and more common in the field of genetic engineering. And so any discovery of exotic genetic material would be of great value to firms that represent such technology. If alien technology is the stuff of black projects funded by the Department of Defense and carried out by agencies in the defense industry, couldn't the same be said about the Department of Health and Human Services and the biogenetics industry with regards to alien genetic material that has been discovered here on Earth or elsewhere?

If true, this would make the matters of crop circles and livestock mutilations more understandable, if only as far as providing the motivation behind such phenomena.

From the viewpoint of captains of industry there's no good reason to share with the public knowledge and technology they have gained from alien sources. The ability to control man and some biological aspects of nature in order to control profits would not be easy for such persons to give up. This line of logic also makes it difficult to dismiss the possibility that men are not acting alone in these endeavors. Please discuss.



[edit on 28-8-2007 by Areal51]

Originally posted by Areal51
From the viewpoint of captains of industry there's no good reason to share with the public knowledge and technology they have gained from alien sources.

[edit on 28-8-2007 by Areal51]

Why not?

If you look at it in those terms why not limit the population and only allow us the knowledge and technology we need to work and forward the plan? (whatever that may be)

In my opinion your OP seems to point towards us all being slaves to a greater intellect. What I feel is that we are being taught - at least by a few of the parties involved, it may be our kids or our kids kids that will understand why - but I remain an optimist.

Originally posted by Now_Then
Why not?

If you look at it in those terms why not limit the population and only allow us the knowledge and technology we need to work and forward the plan? (whatever that may be)

In my opinion your OP seems to point towards us all being slaves to a greater intellect. What I feel is that we are being taught - at least by a few of the parties involved, it may be our kids or our kids kids that will understand why - but I remain an optimist.

Given the scenario that I suggested, it may not be beneficial to biogeneticists to limit population. The fact that they are genetically modifying organisms would mean that they would have to conduct the full range of experiments that are used in science. They would design and conduct controlled experiments, natural experiments, observational studies, and field experiments. If we're talking DNA then we're talking about life, and as such given the enormous amount of time that must pass in order for the results of such research to become meaningful, not to mention the amount of time needed to discover patterns in an endless sea of variable and unpredictable results, choosing to limit population might be not be the wisest thing. Solutions needed in the lab may be found in groups of people not being studied within the lab. Whatever their aims might be, it obviously is not to wipe every human being off of the face of the Earth, even though we currently posses the capability to do so. Population growth serves the function of helping to ensure that there will be future generations of human, and possibly, because of increased competition between humans, it serves as a natural incentive for humans to evolve.

Biogenetic firms need results that are difficult to obtain, and because they are tampering with life, perhaps playing God, they need reliable results. Their plans would necessarily have to cover long stretches of time including research that would take into account as many scenarios as needed. Taking all of this into consideration, you could be right that it could be our children's grandchildren that come to know the truth of what is happening today.