7 Dec
2006
7 Dec
'06
12:22 p.m.
If a putative Martian microbe does _not_ have recognizable DNA yet is nonetheless self-replicating, then things really get interesting. Life establishes itself in multiple ways, not just through DNA. The sky's the limit.
That really is the interesting question, isn't it? We'd have never really predicted what DNA can do--we're still just getting a handle on it. We've had to study and observe it. So what other chemistry might have similar capacity? Who knows?
Others religious folks will have a fit, but there's absolutely nothing we can do about it; it's the same fit they've thrown since the dawn of reason.
Now you've done it Seth ;-) There might be a couple of other people who jump into this one now...