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Bacterial morphologies supporting cometary panspermia: a reappraisal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2010

Chandra Wickramasinghe
Chandra Wickramasinghe
Affiliation:
Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK e-mail: ncwick@googlemail.com
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Abstract

It is nearly 30 years since the first decisive evidence of microbial morphologies in carbonaceous chondrites was discovered and reported by Hans Dieter Pflug. In addition to morphology, other data, notably laser mass spectroscopy, served to confirm the identification of such structures as putative bacterial fossils. Recent examinations of cometary dust collected in the stratosphere and further studies of carbonaceous meteorites reaffirm the presence of putative microbial fossils. Since carbonaceous chondrites (particularly Type 1 chondrites) are thought to be extinct comets the data reviewed in this article provide strong support for theories of cometary panspermia.

Keywords

panspermiacometsmeteoritesmicrofossils
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 25 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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