LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS

Sir, - Dr Reville, in his article of September 9th, states in relation to the possibility of life on other planets: "The scientific…

Sir, - Dr Reville, in his article of September 9th, states in relation to the possibility of life on other planets: "The scientific consensus as to the origin of life on earth is that certain essential carbon compounds arose by chance and gradually developed (evolved) into more complicated self replicating molecules." These "eventually . . . became living cells."

Yet, in a similar article of July 24th, he stated unequivocally: "I cannot see how the first living cell spontaneously arose . . . If a scientific mechanism is not forthcoming within a reasonable amount of time, then science will have to think again".

One wonders what mechanism has emerged since to justify such a volte face - Yours, etc

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