SETI in vivo: testing the we-are-them hypothesis (1707.03382v1)

Abstract: After it was proposed that life on Earth might descend from seeding by an earlier civilization, some authors noted that this alternative offers a testable aspect: the seeds could be supplied with a signature that might be found in extant organisms. In particular, it was suggested that the optimal location for such an artifact is the genetic code, as the least evolving part of cells. However, as the mainstream view goes, this scenario is too speculative and cannot be meaningfully tested because encoding/decoding a signature within the genetic code is ill-defined, so any retrieval attempt is doomed to guesswork. Here we refresh the seeded-Earth hypothesis and discuss the motivation for inserting a signature. We then show that "biological SETI" involves even weaker assumptions than traditional SETI and admits a well-defined methodological framework. After assessing the possibility in terms of molecular and evolutionary biology, we formalize the approach and, adopting the guideline of SETI that encoding/decoding should follow from first principles and be convention-free, develop a retrieval strategy. Applied to the canonical code, it reveals a nontrivial precision structure of interlocked systematic attributes. To assess this result in view of the initial assumption, we perform statistical, comparison, interdependence, and semiotic analyses. Statistical analysis reveals no causal connection to evolutionary models of the code, interdependence analysis precludes overinterpretation, and comparison analysis shows that known code variations lack any precision-logic structures, in agreement with these variations being post-seeding deviations from the canonical code. Finally, semiotic analysis shows that not only the found attributes are consistent with the initial assumption, but that they make perfect sense from SETI perspective, as they maintain some of the most universal codes of culture.

• The paper demonstrates that the genetic code may embed non-biological numerical patterns indicative of an extraterrestrial signature.
• It employs a novel ordering schema based on nucleon numbers combined with statistical tests to reveal anomalies in the canonical code.
• The study bridges evolutionary biology and SETI, challenging traditional origins theories and inspiring interdisciplinary research.

An Analysis of the Genetic Code as a Medium for Extraterrestrial Artifacts

The paper "SETI in vivo: Testing the We-Are-Them Hypothesis" by Maksim A. Makukov and Vladimir I. shCherbak examines a fascinating premise: the possibility that the genetic code of terrestrial life might contain signatures left by an ancient extraterrestrial civilization. The hypothesis, often referred to as "Directed Panspermia," suggests that life on Earth could be the result of seeding by an advanced alien species. While traditional SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) looks to the cosmos for radio signals or artifacts, this paper proposes a more introspective search, identifying this concept as "bioSETI."

The idea that the genetic code could harbor an artifact is not inherently new. However, conventional skepticism challenges its testability due to the speculative nature. This paper methodically rebuts these challenges, suggesting the genetic code as a resilient medium that could embed such a signature. Given the genetic code's monumental role in biological systems and its comparative stability over evolutionary timescales, the hypothesis warrants a rigorous examination based on molecular and evolutionary biology insights.

The authors' methodological strategy involves identifying a universally applicable retrieval method that utilizes first principles without resorting to arbitrary or convention-dependent frameworks. They argue that both the sets of 64 codons and 22 amino acids/start-stop signals represent viable unordered domains, where codon(s) and amino acid mapping could occur without a predefined sequence. By applying an ordering schema based on the nucleon number—a measurable and universally recognizable parameter—an analysis is conducted to determine potential non-biological structuring.

Statistical, interdependence, and comparison analyses play crucial roles in evaluating the origin of any identified patterns. The authors specify that the revealed attributes within this coded structure should pass tests of statistical rarity, remain independent despite permutations, and differ from any post-LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor) evolutionary variations. Notably, a comparative investigation of known variations of the code shows these signatures as anomalies of the canonical code, which bioSETI's framework successfully pinpoints.

Resulting attributes of the canonical genetic code purport forms of symmetry and numerical structures, sometimes reflecting values related to positional numeral systems, specifically a decimal base—suggesting potential artificiality due to cultural multiplicity. These findings, nested within the context of syntactic and logical analysis, lead to assertions that such patterns are analogous to "messages" embedded in the genetic layout—where zero representation manifests, analogous to a distinct cultural construct or signature of intent.

The paper concedes, significantly, that while attributes such as the numeral representation and incorporation of zero-based systems could denote an artifact's cultural aspect (reflecting intelligence), these might easily be misapprehended as adaptive biological features without concrete evidential backing.

In a broader scientific context, this paper confronts established paradigms of life origins by offering testable hypotheses integrating evolutionary biology with astrobiology, contending they exist symbiotically rather than antagonistically. Moreover, it opens potential avenues for interdisciplinary research across information theory, biology, and SETI.

Future implications of this hypothesis deeply impact both theoretical and practical domains. If the premise holds, it initiates a radical rethinking of humanity's origin narrative and places computational biology at the forefront of this search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Conversely, the absence of such findings upon exhaustive probing challenges the community to refine our philosophical understanding of life’s genesis and its universality. The quantified expectation of bioSETI may well extend traditional boundaries of genetic research, fostering richer insights into the potential ubiquity of intelligent life within the universe.