[meteorite-list] Italian Researchers Find Traces Of Life InMeteorites

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:46:22 2004
Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C8698E53F0_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com>

Hi All,

> This is second article appeared on "Corriere della Sera" of today.
> The author is Giovanni Caprara, scientific journalist of the newspaper.

Assuming the translation offered is relatively close to
the original spirit of the article in Italian, I feel
sorry for the embarrassment that Mr. Caprara will suffer
from reporting this tripe.

> MILAN - The new extraterrestrial bacteria discovered within the
> meteorites of the Mineralogical Museum of Naples have been cloned, and
> are reproducing themselves in large quantity in the vials of the
> Federico II University laboratories.

If there is bacteria, it ain't extraterrestrial.

> The bacteria, after having been reproduced -- as explained by the
> astrophysic Giovanni Bignami, the scientific director of ASI -- have
> been analyzed for their DNA, and it resulted in a new brand without
> equals among the 18,000 known types of genetic code>>

Already beginning to sound like the National Enquirer...

> If confirmed, ...

It won't be.

> ... the discover is going to radically change the explanations of the
> presence of life on the Earth and in the solar system.

A discoverer making such claims will soon join the ranks
of Pons and Fleischmann.

> ... The microorganisms, when put in contact with a physiological
> solution by using a simple method easy to reproduce, <<become
> visible and start moving>>, in other words they reactivate themselves,
> as explained by the discoverers, who also collaborated with the
> Geomare Institue of CNR. Once they [the organisms] came back to
> life, it has been easy to clone them.

Reanimator! ;-)

> The probability of the specimens being contaminated by terrestrial
> bacteria is very low -- the directory of ASI points out -- After all,
> they have also be found in specimens sterylized in laboratory at
> temperatures of 950 degrees. And they have always come back
> to life>>.

If the specimens were sterilized to 950 degrees (F, C or K,
makes no difference), then you can say goodbye to the
DNA molecules of any ancient organisms that were supposedly
resurrected by a little bath in the "physiological solution"
(whatever that is).

This is all very silly. --Rob
Received on Thu 10 May 2001 05:21:42 PM PDT