Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach

Abstract

The Forgotten Remit of Astrobiology

Chandra Wickramasinghe

Astrobiology as it is currently pursued generally ignores the possibility that life might be a cosmic phenomenon, and that fully-fledged microbial life – bacteria and viruses – are cosmically omnipresent. The exploration of this possibility, which is opposed to the conventional view of an origin of life occurring independently on individual planets like Earth, is urgently needed in the light of new data.