Discussion 1 to Meditation 626 / 627
Extraterrestrial DNA does not necessarily make it easier
by: Dan Hendricks
To add to this discussion (or any other,) please use the Contact form. This discussion has been continued.
DNA from another galaxy would not make belief in its evolution any easier, because it would still have had to evolve in that other galaxy. Further, the problem of it getting to Earth would arise. Our planet would be an exceptionally small target to be hit by debris from a planatary impact on this hypothetical DNA-breeding-ground planet from across the galaxy, much less from another galaxy.
While granted, this is not my area of study, I don't see that the initial evolutionary generations of DNA couldn't have arisen on Earth. I'm unsure how we would know if there were earlier versions that were not, as you say, "exactly right", but were close enough to reproduce with variation. We don't need full bore DNA/RNA right off the bat as the first life, but just something capable of reproduction. A lot of intermediate species have been wiped out over the ages, and proto-DNA wouldn't necessarily leave any clearly identifiable fossils. Consequently, I'm unsure how to determine, much less catagoricly rule out, that proto-DNA evolved on Earth.