Chandra Wickramasinghe#Extraterrestrial pathogens

Wickramasinghe studied at Royal College, Colombo, the University of Ceylon (where he graduated in 1960 with a BSc First Class Honours in mathematics), and at Trinity College and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD and ScD degrees.{{cite web|url=http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/directory/professor-chandra-wickramasinghe/ |title=Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe — University of Buckingham |publisher=Buckingham.ac.uk |access-date=2013-01-18}} Following his education, Wickramasinghe was a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge from 1963 to 1973, until he became professor of applied mathematics and astronomy at University College Cardiff. Wickramasinghe was a consultant and advisor to the President of Sri Lanka from 1982 to 1984, and played a key role in founding the Institute of Fundamental Studies in Sri Lanka.

After fifteen years at University College Cardiff, Wickramasinghe took an equivalent position in the University of Cardiff, a post he held from 1990 until 2006.{{cite news|title=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/5320658.stm|access-date=16 July 2013|newspaper=UK National News Service|date=7 September 2006}} After retirement in 2006, he incubated the Cardiff Center for Astrobiology as a special project reporting to the president of the university. In 2011 the project closed down, losing its funding in a series of UK educational cut backs. After this event, Wickramasinghe was offered the opportunity to move to the University of Buckingham as Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham where he has been since 2011. He maintains his part-time position as a UK Professor at Cardiff University. In 2015 he was elected Visiting scholar, Churchill College, Cambridge, England 2015/16.

He is a co-founder and board member of the Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics, set up in Japan in 2014,[http://www.ispajapan.com/page/about-us ISPA - About us] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521233234/http://www.ispajapan.com/page/about-us |date=2015-05-21 }}. and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach. He was a Visiting By-Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge, England 2015/16;{{cite web|last1=Caulfield|first1=Noelle|title=Fellowship Secretary|url=http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/people/view/nalin-chandra-wickramasinghe/|website=Churchill College, Cambridge|publisher=Churchill College, Cambridge|access-date=27 April 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016170859/https://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/people/view/nalin-chandra-wickramasinghe/|archive-date=16 October 2015}} Professor and Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Buckingham, a post he has held since 2011; Affiliated Visiting Professor, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka;{{cite web|last1=Senaratne|first1=Atula|title=Prof.|url=http://www.pdn.ac.lk/uop/inrc/Uploads/AstroBiologyConfefnce.pdf|website=Abrecon 2015|publisher=University of Peradeniya|access-date=10 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103037/http://www.pdn.ac.lk/uop/inrc/Uploads/AstroBiologyConfefnce.pdf|archive-date=18 May 2015|url-status=dead}} and a board member and research director at the Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics, Ogaki-City, Gifu, Japan.{{cite web|last1=Tokoro|first1=Gensuke|title=Professor|url=http://www.ispajapan.com/page/ispa-news|website=www.ispajapan.com/|publisher=Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics|access-date=12 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518195617/http://www.ispajapan.com/page/ispa-news|archive-date=18 May 2015|url-status=dead}}

In 2017, Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe was appointed adjunct professor in the Department of Physics, at the University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka.{{cite web|url=http://physics.ruh.ac.lk/academic/ap_c_wickramasinghe.php|title=Prof. Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe|website=Department of Physics at University of Ruhuna|publisher=Department of Physics at University of Ruhuna|last1=Smith|first1=William|access-date=27 February 2017}}

In 1960 he commenced work in Cambridge on his PhD degree under the supervision of Fred Hoyle, and published his first scientific paper "On Graphite Particles as Interstellar Grains" in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1962.{{cite news|url=http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/classics1986/A1986C401400001.pdf |title=This Week's Citation Classic |publisher=ISI Current Contents |date=1986-06-02 |access-date=2013-01-18}} He was awarded a PhD degree in mathematics in 1963 and was elected a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge in the same year. In the following year he was appointed a Staff Member of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. Here he continued to work on the nature of interstellar dust, publishing many papers in this field,{{cite web|url=http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/research/bcab/hrwarchive |title=Archive of key historical publications — University of Buckingham |publisher=Buckingham.ac.uk |date=1980-04-03 |access-date=2013-01-18}} that led to a consideration of carbon-containing grains as well as the older silicate models.

Wickramasinghe published the first definitive book on Interstellar Grains in 1967.{{cite book|title=Interstellar grains (Book, 1967) |publisher=[WorldCat.org] |oclc = 407751}} He has made many contributions to this field, publishing over 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals, over 75 of which are in Nature. Hoyle and Wickramasinghe further proposed a radical kind of panspermia that included the claim that extraterrestrial life forms enter the Earth's atmosphere and were possibly responsible for epidemic outbreaks, new diseases, and genetic novelty that Hoyle and Wickramasinghe contended was necessary for macroevolution.{{cite book|author=Fred Hoyle, Chandra Wickramasinghe and John Watson| title=Viruses from Space and Related Matters| publisher=University College Cardiff Press| year=1986}}

Chandra Wickramasinghe had the longest-running collaboration with Fred Hoyle. Their publications on books and papers arguing for panspermia and a cosmic hypothesis of life are controversial and, in particular detail, essentially contra the scientific consensus in both astrophysics and biology. Several claims made by Hoyle and Wickramasinghe between 1977 and 1981, such as a report of having detected interstellar cellulose, were criticised by one author as pseudoscience.{{cite book|author=Brian L. Silver Professor of Physical Chemistry Technion Israel Institute of Technology|title=The Ascent of Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3t1AoCXYDEC|date=26 February 1998|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-802769-0|pages=341–2}} Phil Plait has described Wickramasinghe as a "fringe scientist" who "jumps on everything, with little or no evidence, and says it's from outer space".{{Cite web|last=Plait|first=Phil|date=2013-01-15|title=Claims of Life in a Meteorite are Meteorwrong|url=https://slate.com/technology/2013/01/life-in-a-meteorite-claims-by-n-c-wickramasinghe-of-diatoms-in-a-meteorite-are-almost-certainly-wrong.html|access-date=2021-08-14|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}}

In 1974 Wickramasinghe first proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space was largely organic,Nature, vol: 252, 462, 1974; and Nature, Vol 268, 610, 1977. and followed this up with other research confirming the hypothesis.Wickramasinghe, D. T. & Allen, D. A. [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v287/n5782/abs/287518a0.html The 3.4-μm interstellar absorption feature.] Nature 287, 518−519 (1980). Allen, D. A. & Wickramasinghe, D. T. [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v294/n5838/abs/294239a0.html Diffuse interstellar absorption bands between 2.9 and 4.0 μm.] Nature 294, 239−240 (1981). Wickramasinghe, D. T. & Allen, D. A. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00653492 Three components of 3–4 μm absorption bands.] Astrophys. Space Sci. 97, 369−378 (1983). Wickramasinghe also proposed and confirmed the existence of polymeric compounds based on the molecule formaldehyde (H₂CO).N.C. Wickramasinghe, Formaldehyde Polymers in Interstellar Space, Nature, 252, 462, 1974 Fred Hoyle and Wickramasinghe later proposed the identification of bicyclic aromatic compounds from an analysis of the ultraviolet extinction absorption at 2175A.,F. Hoyle and N.C. Wickramasinghe, Identification of the lambda 2200A interstellar absorption feature, Nature, 270, 323, 1977 thus demonstrating the existence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules in space.

Throughout his career, Wickramasinghe, along with his collaborator Fred Hoyle, has advanced the panspermia hypothesis, that proposes that life on Earth is, at least in part, of extraterrestrial origin.{{cite journal|last=Wickramasinghe|first=C.|title=The astrobiological case for our cosmic ancestry|journal=International Journal of Astrobiology|year=2010|volume=9|issue=2|pages=119–129|bibcode = 2010IJAsB...9..119W |doi = 10.1017/S1473550409990413 |s2cid=13978227 }}{{cite journal|last=Wickramasinghe|first=C.|title=Bacterial morphologies supporting cometary panspermia: a reappraisal|journal=International Journal of Astrobiology|year=2011|volume=10|issue=1|pages=25–30|bibcode = 2011IJAsB..10...25W |doi = 10.1017/S1473550410000157 |citeseerx=10.1.1.368.4449|s2cid=7262449 }} The Hoyle–Wickramasinghe model of panspermia include the assumptions that dormant viruses and desiccated DNA and RNA can survive unprotected in space;{{cite journal|last=Secker|first=Jeff|author2=Paul S. Wesson|author3=James R. Lepock|title=Astrophysical and Biological Constraints on Radiopanspermia|journal=The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada |date=26 Jul 1996|pmid=11540166|url=https://cds.cern.ch/record/307658/files/9607139.pdf|access-date=3 August 2013|volume=90|issue=4|pages=184–92|bibcode=1996JRASC..90..184S|arxiv = astro-ph/9607139 }} that small bodies such as asteroids and comets can protect the "seeds of life", including DNA and RNA,{{cite news|last=Wickramasinghe|first=Chandra|title=Viva Panspermia|newspaper=The Observatory|date=June 2011 |bibcode=2011Obs...131..130W}}{{cite journal|last=Wesson|first=P|title=Panspermia, Past and Present: Astrophysical and Biophysical Conditions for the Dissemination of Life in Space|journal=Space Sci. Rev.|year=2010|volume=156|issue=1–4|series=1-4|pages=239–252|doi=10.1007/s11214-010-9671-x|arxiv = 1011.0101 |bibcode = 2010SSRv..156..239W |s2cid=119236576}} living, fossilized, or dormant life, cellular{{cite journal|last=Hoyle|first=Fred|author2=Wickramasinghe, C.|title=The case for life as a cosmic phenomenon| journal=Nature|year=1986| volume=322|issue=6079| pages=509–511|doi=10.1038/322509a0|bibcode = 1986Natur.322..509H |s2cid=4248740 }} or non-cellular;{{cite book| last=Hoyle| first=Fred| title=Living Comets| year=1985| publisher=University College, Cardiff Press| location=Cardiff}}{{cite journal| last=Hoyle| first=Fred| author2=Wickramasinghe, N.C.| title=Proofs that Life is Cosmic| journal=Mem. Inst. Fund. Studies Sri Lanka| year=1982| url=http://www.panspermia.org/proofslifeiscosmic.pdf| access-date=3 August 2013| bibcode=1982ptli.book.....H}}{{cite book| last=Hoyle| first=Fred| title=Evolution from Space|year=1981|publisher=J.M. Dent & Sons| location=London}}{{cite book| last=Hoyle| first=Fred| title=Comets - a vehicle for panspermia|year=1981|publisher=D. Reidel Publishing Co.| location=Dordrecht|page=227}}{{cite journal| last=Wallis| first=M.K.| author2=Wickramasinghe N.C.|title=Interstellar transfer of planetary microbiota| journal=Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.|year=2004|volume=348| issue=1|pages=52–57|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07355.x|bibcode=2004MNRAS.348...52W|doi-access=free}} and that the collisions of asteroids, comets, and moons have the potential to spread these "seeds of life" throughout an individual star system and then onward to others.{{cite journal|last=Napier|first=W.M.|title=A mechanism for interstellar panspermia| journal=Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.|year=2004|volume=348|issue=1|pages=46–51|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07287.x|bibcode=2004MNRAS.348...46N|doi-access=free}} The most contentious issue around the Hoyle–Wickramasinghe model of the panspermia hypothesis is the corollary of their first two propositions that viruses and bacteria continue to enter the Earth's atmosphere from space, and are hence responsible for many major epidemics throughout history.{{cite book|last=Hoyle|first=Fred|title=Diseases from Space|year=1979|publisher=J.M. Dent & Sons|location=London}}{{cite journal|last=Hoyle|first=Fred|author2=Wickramasinghe, N.C.|title=Influenza – evidence against contagion|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine|year=1990|volume=83|issue=4|pages=258–261|doi=10.1177/014107689008300417|pmid=2342043|pmc=1292615}}{{cite book|last=Hoyle|first=Fred|title=Astronomical Origins of Life: Steps towards Panspermia.|year=2000|publisher=Kluwer Academic Press|location=Dordrecht}}

Towards the end of their collaboration, Wickramasinghe and Hoyle hypothesised that abiogenesis occurred close to the Galactic Center before panspermia carried life throughout the Milky Way,{{cite journal|last=Wickramasinghe|first=Chandra|author2=Hoyle, Fred|title=Miller-Urey Synthesis in the Nuclei of Galaxies|journal=Astrophys. Space Sci.|year=1998|volume=259|issue=1|pages=99–103|bibcode=1998Ap&SS.259...99W|doi=10.1023/A:1001579504620|s2cid=189822129 }} and stated a belief that such a process could occur in many galaxies throughout the Universe.{{cite book|last=Hoyle|first=Fred|title=Astronomical Origins of Life; Steps Towards Panspermia|year=1999|publisher=Kluwer Academic Press|isbn=978-0-7923-6081-0}}{{cite web|title=Life is a cosmic phenomenon; Wickramasinghe – Hoyle theories vindicated by Piyavi Wijewardene|url=http://newsfirst.lk/english/2017/06/life-cosmic-phenomenon-wickramasinghe-hoyle-theories-vindicated-piyavi-wijewardene/168328|date=2017-06-05}}

File:Microorganisms.jpg

On 20 January 2001 the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) conducted a balloon flight from Hyderabad, India to collect stratospheric dust from a height of 41 km (135,000 ft) with a view to testing for the presence of living cells. The collaborators on this project included a team of UK scientists led by Wickramasinghe. In a paper presented at a SPIE conference in San Diego in 2002 the detection of evidence for viable microorganisms from 41 km above the Earth's surface was presented.{{cite journal | last1 = Harris | first1 = Melanie J. | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = N.C. | last3 = Lloyd | first3 = David | display-authors = etal | year = 2002| issue = Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology IV | doi = 10.1117/12.454758 | journal = Proc. SPIE | volume = 4495 | title = Detection of living cells in stratospheric samples | page = 192 | series = Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology IV | bibcode = 2002SPIE.4495..192H | s2cid = 129736236 }} However, the experiment did not present evidence as to whether the findings are incoming microbes from space rather than microbes carried up to 41 km from the surface of the Earth.

In 2005 the ISRO group carried out a second stratospheric sampling experiment from 41 km altitude and reported the isolation of three new species of bacteria including one that they named Janibacter hoylei sp.nov. in honour of Fred Hoyle.{{cite journal | last1 = Shivaji | first1 = S. | last2 = Chaturvedi | first2 = P. | last3 = Begum | first3 = Z. | display-authors = etal | year = 2009 | title = Janibacter hoylei sp.nov., Bacillus isronensis sp. nov. and Bacillus aryabhattai sp.nov. isolated from cryotubes used for collecting air from the upper atmosphere | url = http://repository.iucaa.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/11007/1672/1/329A_2009.pdf | journal = International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology | volume = 59 | issue = 12 | pages = 2977–2986 | doi = 10.1099/ijs.0.002527-0 | pmid = 19643890 | doi-access = free | access-date = 5 September 2019 | archive-date = 21 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170921224313/http://repository.iucaa.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/11007/1672/1/329A_2009.pdf | url-status = dead }} However, these facts do not prove that bacteria on Earth originated in the cosmic environment. Samplings of the stratosphere have also been carried out by Yang et al. (2005,Yang, Y., Yokobori, S., Kawaguchi, J., et al., 2005. [http://repository.tksc.jaxa.jp/dr/prc/japan/contents/AA0064301002/64301002.pdf Investigation of cultivable microorganisms in the stratosphere collected by using a balloon in 2005], JAXA Research Development Report, JAXA-RR-08-001, 35-42 2009{{cite journal | last1 =Yang | first1 =Y. | last2 =Yokobori | first2 =S. | last3 =Yamagishi | first3 =A. | year =2009 | title =Assessing panspermia hypothesis by microorganisms collected in the high altitude atmosphere | url =http://logos.ls.toyaku.ac.jp/~lcb-7/yamagishi/yang2009.pdf | journal =Biol. Sci. Space | volume =23 | issue =3| pages =151–163 | doi=10.2187/bss.23.151| doi-access =free }}). During the experiment strains of highly radiation-resistant Deinococcus bacterium were detected at heights up to 35 km. Nevertheless, these authors have abstained from linking these discoveries to panspermia.

Wickramasinghe was also involved in coordinating analyses of the red rain in Kerala in collaborations with Godfrey Louis.[http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/orange.pdf Red rain in Kerala]

Hoyle and Wickramasinghe have advanced the argument that various outbreaks of illnesses on Earth are of extraterrestrial origins, including the 1918 flu pandemic and certain outbreaks of polio and mad cow disease. For the 1918 flu pandemic they hypothesised that cometary dust brought the virus to Earth simultaneously at multiple locations—a view almost universally dismissed by external experts on this pandemic.

On 24 May 2003 The Lancet published a letter from Wickramasinghe,{{cite journal|last=Wickramasinghe|first=C|author2=Wainwright, M |author3=Narlikar, J |title=SARS—a clue to its origins?|journal=Lancet|date=May 24, 2003|volume=361|issue=9371|pages=1832|pmid=12781581|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13440-X|s2cid=43843273}} jointly signed by Milton Wainwright and Jayant Narlikar, in which they hypothesised that the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) could be extraterrestrial in origin instead of originating from chickens. The Lancet subsequently published three responses to this letter, showing that the hypothesis was not evidence-based, and casting doubts on the quality of the experiments referenced by Wickramasinghe in his letter.{{cite journal|last=Willerslev|first=E|author2=Hansen, AJ |author3=Rønn, R |author4= Nielsen, OJ |title=Panspermia--true or false?|journal=Lancet|date=Aug 2, 2003|volume=362|issue=9381|pages=406; author reply 407–8|pmid=12907025|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14039-1|s2cid=43529100}}{{cite journal|last=Bhargava|first=PM|title=Panspermia--true or false?|journal=Lancet|date=Aug 2, 2003|volume=362|issue=9381|pages=407; author reply 407–8|pmid=12907028|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14041-X|pmc=7134934}}{{cite journal|last=Ponce de Leon|first=S|author2=Lazcano, A|title=Panspermia--true or false?|journal=Lancet|date=Aug 2, 2003|volume=362|issue=9381|pages=406–7; author reply 407–8|pmid=12907026|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(03)14040-8|pmc=7135165}} Claims connecting terrestrial disease and extraterrestrial pathogens have been rejected by the scientific community.

In 2020, Wickramasinghe and colleagues published a paper claiming that Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic was also of extraterrestrial origin, the claim was criticised for lacking evidence.{{Cite web|date=August 31, 2020|title=Wild theory suggests COVID-19 came to Earth aboard a space rock|url=https://astronomy.com/news/2020/08/wild-theory-suggests-covid-19-came-to-earth-aboard-a-space-rock|access-date=2021-08-14|website=Astronomy.com|language=en}}

On 29 December 2012 a green fireball was observed in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.{{cite journal | title = Fossil Diatoms in a New Carbonaceous Meteorite | journal = Journal of Cosmology | date = 10 January 2013 | first1 = Chandra | last1 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = J. |last2=Wallis |first3=D.H. |last3=Wallis |first4=Anil |last4=Samaranayake | volume = 21|issue=37|pages=9560–71 | url = http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC21/PoloaruwaERR.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190806034701/http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC21/PoloaruwaERR.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 6, 2019 |arxiv=1303.2398| access-date = 2015-02-24|bibcode = 2013JCos...21.9560W }}{{cite journal | title = On the cometary origin of the Polonnaruwa meteorite | journal = Journal of Cosmology | date = 13 January 2013 | first1 = Chandra | last1 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = J. |last2=Wallis |first3=D.H. |last3=Wallis |first4=M.K. |last4=Wallis |first5=S. |last5=Al-Mufti |first6=J.T. |last6=Wickramasinghe |first7=Anil |last7=Samaranayake |first8=K. |last8=Wickramarathne | volume = 21 | issue = 38 | pages = 9572 | url = http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC21/Polonn2.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190806034705/http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC21/Polonn2.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 6, 2019 | access-date = 2013-01-16| bibcode = 2013JCos...21.9572W }} It disintegrated into fragments that fell to the Earth near the villages of Aralaganwila and Dimbulagala and in a rice field near Dalukkane. Rock samples were submitted to the Medical Research Institute of the Ministry of Health in Colombo.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}}

The rocks were sent to the University of Cardiff in Wales for analysis, where Chandra Wickramasinghe's team analyzed them and claimed that they contained extraterrestrial diatoms. From January to March 2013, five papers were published in the fringe Journal of Cosmology outlining various results from teams in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany.{{cite news | author = Walter Jayawardhana | title = Polonnaruwa meteorite with evidence of life from outer space described the most important find in 500 years | date = 13 January 2013 | url = http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2013/01/13/polonnaruwa-meteorite-with-evidence-of-life-from-outer-space-described-the-most-important-find-in-500-years/ | work = LankaWeb | access-date = 2013-01-15}}{{failed verification|date=August 2013}}{{cite journal | title = Authenticity of the life-bearing Polonnaruwa meteorite | journal = Journal of Cosmology | volume = 21 | pages = 9772 | date = 4 February 2013 | first1 = N.C. |last1=Wickramasinghe | first2 = J. |last2=Wallis |first3=N. |last3=Miyake |first4=Anthony |last4=Oldroyd |first5=D.H. |last5=Wallis |first6=Anil |last6=Samaranayake |first7=K. |last7=Wickramarathne |first8=Richard B. |last8=Hoover |first9=M.K. |last9=Wallis | url = http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC21/Polonnaruwa5R.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130705172655/http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC21/Polonnaruwa5R.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = July 5, 2013 | access-date = 2013-02-04| bibcode = 2013JCos...21.9772W }}{{failed verification|date=August 2013}} However, independent experts in meteoritics stated that the object analyzed by Wickramasinghe's team was of terrestrial origin,{{cite news | author = Phil Plait |author-link=Phil Plait | title = No, Diatoms Have Not Been Found in a Meteorite | date = 15 January 2013 | url = http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/01/15/life_in_a_meteorite_claims_by_n_c_wickramasinghe_of_diatoms_in_a_meteorite.html | work = Slate.com - Astronomy | access-date = 2013-01-16}}{{cite news | title = Meteors from outer space made definitive land fall in Aralaganwila says Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe | date = 29 April 2013 | url = http://www.hirunews.lk/58032 | work = Hiru News | access-date = 2013-04-30 | quote= When our news team contacted Professor of Geology Athula Senarathna of University of Peradeniya who carried out a research on the meteorite fall in Aralaganvila, said that there could not be any truth in Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe claim.}} a fulgurite created by lightning strikes on Earth.{{cite news | title = Aralaganwila stones are not meteors; says Peradeniya University | date = 14 January 2013 | url = http://www.hirunews.lk/51379/aralaganwila-stones-are-meteors-says-peradeniya-university | work = Hiru News | access-date = 2015-02-24}} Experts in diatoms complemented the statement, saying that the organisms found in the rock represented a wide range of extant terrestrial taxa, confirming their earthly origin.

Wickramasinghe and collaborators responded, using X-ray diffraction, oxygen isotope analysis, and scanning electron microscope observations, in a March 2013 paper asserting that the rocks they found were indeed meteorites,{{cite journal|last1=Wallis|first1=Jamie|first2=Nori |last2=Miyake |first3=Richard B. |last3=Hoover |first4=Andrew |last4=Oldroyd |first5=Darryl H. |last5=Wallis |first6=Anil |last6=Samaranayake |first7=K. |last7=Wickramasinghe |first8=M.K. |last8=Wallis |first9=Carl H. |last9=Gibson |first10=N.C. |last10=Wickramasinghe|title=The Polonnaruwa Meteorite - Oxygen Isotope, Crystalline and Biological Composition|journal=Journal of Cosmology|date=5 March 2013|volume=22|issue=2|pages=10004|url=http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC22/Paper22(2).pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705172643/http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC22/Paper22%282%29.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 5, 2013|access-date=6 August 2013|bibcode=2013JCos...2210004W|arxiv = 1303.1845 }} instead of being created by lightning strikes on Earth as stated by scientists from the University of Peradeniya.{{cite journal|last1=Wallis|first1=Jamie|first2=Nori |last2=Miyake |first3=Richard B. |last3=Hoover |first4=Andrew |last4=Oldroyd |first5=Daryl H. |last5=Wallis |first6=Anil |last6=Samaranayake |first7=K. |last7=Wickramarathne |first8=M.K. |last8=Wallis |first9=Carl H. |last9=Gibson |first10=N. C. |last10=Wickramasinghe|title=The Polonnaruwa Meteorite : Oxygen Isotope, Crystalline and Biological Composition|journal=Journal of Cosmology|date=5 March 2013|volume=22|issue=2|pages=10004|bibcode=2013JCos...2210004W|arxiv = 1303.1845 }} However, these claims were also criticised for not providing evidence that the rocks were actually meteorites.{{Cite web|last=Plait|first=Phil|date=2013-03-11|title=UPDATE: No, Life Has Still Not Been Found in a Meteorite|url=https://slate.com/technology/2013/03/meteorite-life-claims-of-fossils-in-a-meteorite-are-still-wrong.html|access-date=2021-08-14|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}}

In 2018, Wickramasinghe and over 30 other authors published a paper in Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology entitled "Cause of Cambrian Explosion - Terrestrial or Cosmic?" which argued in favour of panspermia as the origin of the Cambrian explosion, and posited that cephalopods are alien lifeforms that originated from frozen eggs that were transported to earth via meteor.{{Cite journal|last1=Steele|first1=Edward J.|last2=Al-Mufti|first2=Shirwan|last3=Augustyn|first3=Kenneth A.|last4=Chandrajith|first4=Rohana|last5=Coghlan|first5=John P.|last6=Coulson|first6=S.G.|last7=Ghosh|first7=Sudipto|last8=Gillman|first8=Mark|last9=Gorczynski|first9=Reginald M.|last10=Klyce|first10=Brig|last11=Louis|first11=Godfrey|display-authors=1|date=August 2018|title=Cause of Cambrian Explosion - Terrestrial or Cosmic?|journal=Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology|language=en|volume=136|pages=3–23|doi=10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.03.004|pmid=29544820 |s2cid=4486796 |quote=Thus the possibility that cryopreserved Squid and/or Octopus eggs, arrived in icy bolides several hundred million years ago should not be discounted (below) as that would be a parsimonious cosmic explanation for the Octopus' sudden emergence on Earth ca. 270 million years ago.|doi-access=free|hdl=1885/143614|hdl-access=free}} The claims gained widespread press coverage.{{Cite web|date=2018-05-18|title=Are octopuses aliens from outer space that were brought to Earth by meteors?|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/octopus-aliens-scientists-theory-meteors-space-earth-cambrian-explosion-a8358631.html|access-date=2021-08-14|website=The Independent|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Brandon Specktor - Senior Writer 17 May 2018|date=2018-05-17|title=No, Octopuses Don't Come From Outer Space|url=https://www.livescience.com/62594-octopuses-are-not-aliens-panspermia.html|access-date=2021-08-14|website=livescience.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Livni|first=Ephrat|title=A controversial study has a new spin on the otherworldliness of the octopus|url=https://qz.com/1281064/a-controversial-study-has-a-new-spin-on-the-otherworldliness-of-the-octopus/|access-date=2021-08-14|website=Quartz|date=19 May 2018 |language=en}} Virologist Karin Mölling, in a companion commentary published in the same journal, stated that the claims "cannot be taken seriously".{{Cite journal|last=Moelling|first=Karin|date=August 2018|title=Commentary to: Cause of Cambrian explosion - Terrestrial or cosmic? Steele, E.J. et al.|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0079610718300804|journal=Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology|language=en|volume=136|pages=24|doi=10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.03.005|pmid=29571770 |url-access=subscription}}

Wickramasinghe and his mentor Fred Hoyle have also used their data to argue in favor of cosmic ancestry,[http://www.panspermia.org/thirdalt.htm Creationism versus Darwinism]. Published in Darwinism, Design, and Public Education, Michigan State University Press, 2003 {{ISBN|978-0870136757}}Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe. Evolution from Space: A Theory of Cosmic Creationism, Touchstone, 1984 {{ISBN|0-671-49263-2}}Wickramasinghe and Hoyle, Our Place in the Cosmos: The Unfinished Revolution, J.M. Dent & Sons, 1993 {{ISBN|978-0460860840}}Fred Hoyle, Evolution From Space (The Omni Lecture) and Other Papers on the Origin of Life, (Enslow; Hillside, NJ; 1982 {{ISBN|978-0894900839}}[http://www.skeptictank.org/figlie.htm Figures don't Lie but Creationists Figure] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092535/http://www.skeptictank.org/figlie.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}. By Alec Grynspan ( 9 November 1997){{cite journal | journal = Proceedings of the SPIE| date =29 Aug 2010| bibcode =2010SPIE.7819E..0NG | last1 =Gangappa | first1 =Rajkumar | last2 =Wickramasinghe|title = Growth and replication of red rain cells at 121 °C and their red fluorescence|first2=Chandra | last3 =Wainwright|first3=Milton | last4 =Kumar|first4=A. Santhosh | last5 =Louis|first5=Godfrey | volume =7819 | page =18 | doi =10.1117/12.876393 | series =Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XIII | editor1-last =Hoover | editor1-first =Richard B | editor2-last =Levin | editor2-first =Gilbert V | editor3-last =Rozanov | editor3-first =Alexei Y | editor4-last =Davies | editor4-first =Paul C. W.|arxiv = 1008.4960| s2cid =118437731}} and against the idea of life emerging from inanimate objects by abiogenesis.{{cite book | author1 =Fred Hoyle | author2 =Chandra Wickramasinghe | title =Archaeopteryx, the Primordial Bird: A Case of Fossil Forgery | page =[https://archive.org/details/archaeopteryxpri0000hoyl/page/135 135] | year =1986 | publisher =Christopher Davies | isbn =978-0715406656 | url =https://archive.org/details/archaeopteryxpri0000hoyl/page/135 }}

{{cquote|Once again the Universe gives the appearance of being biologically constructed, and on this occasion on a truly vast scale. Once again those who consider such thoughts to be too outlandish to be taken seriously will continue to do so. While we ourselves shall continue to take the view that those who believe they can match the complexities of the Universe by simple experiments in their laboratories will continue to be disappointed.}}

Wickramasinghe attempts to present scientific evidence to support the notion of cosmic ancestry and "the possibility of high intelligence in the Universe and of many increasing levels of intelligence converging toward a God as an ideal limit."Fry, Iris, Emergence of Life on Earth: A Historical and Scientific Overview, Rutgers University Press, 2000 {{ISBN|978-0813527406}}

During the 1981 scientific creationist trial in Arkansas, Wickramasinghe was the only scientist testifying for the defense, which in turn was supporting creationism.Phy-Olsen, Allene, Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design, Greenwood, 2010, pp 74-75 {{ISBN|978-0313378416}} In addition, he wrote that the Archaeopteryx fossil finding is a forgery, a charge that the scientific community considers an "absurd" and "ignorant" statement.{{cite journal |last=Charig |first=A. J. |author-link=Alan J. Charig |author2=Greenaway, F. |author3=Milner, A. N. |author4=Walker, C. A. |author5= Whybrow, P. J. |year=1986 |title=Archaeopteryx is not a forgery |journal=Science |volume=232 |issue=4750 |pages=622–626 |doi=10.1126/science.232.4750.622 |pmid=17781413 |bibcode =1986Sci...232..622C |s2cid=39554239 }}{{cite news | title =A Case of Fossil Forgery? | date =18 November 2012 | url =http://askwhy.co.uk/dinosauroids/?p=42 | work =AskWhy | access-date =2013-01-01}}

• Commonwealth Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge, 1960-1963
• [http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=99&awtypeid=3#Powell%20Prize%20-%20Serious%20Verse Powell Prize for English Verse], Trinity College, 1961
• Vidya Jyothi from the President of Sri Lanka, 1992
• Honorary DLitt, Sōka University (Japan), 1996
• Doctor of Science (honoris causa), University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, 2004
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20151016170859/https://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/people/view/nalin-chandra-wickramasinghe/ Visiting By-Fellowship], visiting scholar, Churchill College, Cambridge, England 2015/16
• [http://profchandra.org/2017/10/2017-9-27-ada-derana-sri-lankan-year-2017/ Ada Derana Sri Lankan of the Year 2017 - Global Scientist]

Wickramasinghe was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to science, astronomy and astrobiology.{{London Gazette|issue=63571|supp=y|page=N26|date=1 January 2022}}

• Interstellar Grains (Chapman & Hall, London, 1967)
• Light Scattering Functions for Small Particles with Applications in Astronomy (Wiley, New York, 1973){{cite book|title=Light scattering functions for small particles, with applications in astronomy (Book, 1973) |publisher=[WorldCat.org] |oclc = 520709}}
• Solid-State Astrophysics (ed. with D.J. Morgan) (D. Reidel, Boston, 1975)
• Interstellar Matter (with F.D. Khan & P.G. Mezger) (Swiss Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1974){{cite book|title=Interstellar matter (Book, 1972) |publisher=[WorldCat.org] |oclc = 744949}}
• The Cosmic Laboratory (University College of Cardiff, 1975){{cite book|title=The cosmic laboratory (Book, 1975) |publisher=[WorldCat.org] |date=1975-05-20 |oclc = 3202695}}
• Lifecloud: The Origin of Life in the Universe (with Fred Hoyle) (J.M. Dent, London, 1978)
• Diseases from Space (with Fred Hoyle) (J.M. Dent, London, 1979){{cite book|title=Diseases from space (Book, 1980) |publisher=[WorldCat.org] |oclc = 6087814}}
• Origin of Life (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1979){{cite book|title=The origin of life (Book, 1980) |publisher=[WorldCat.org] |oclc = 7677943}}
• Space Travellers: The Bringers of Life (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1981)
• Evolution from Space (with Fred Hoyle) (J.M. Dent, London, 1981) {{ISBN|978-0-460-04535-3}}
• Is Life an Astronomical Phenomenon? (University College Cardiff Press, 1982) {{ISBN|9780906449493}}
• Why Neo-Darwinism Does Not Work (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1982) {{ISBN|9780906449509}}
• Proofs that Life is Cosmic (with Fred Hoyle) (Institute of Fundamental Studies, Sri Lanka, Memoirs no.1, 1982){{cite book|title=Proofs that life is Cosmic (Book, 1982) |publisher=[WorldCat.org] |oclc = 11524078}}
• From Grains to Bacteria (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1984) {{ISBN|9780906449646}}
• Fundamental Studies and the Future of Science (ed.) (University College Cardiff Press, 1984) {{ISBN|9780906449578}}
• Living Comets (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1985) {{ISBN|9780906449790}}
• Archaeopteryx, the Primordial Bird: A Case of Fossil Forgery (with Fred Hoyle) (Christopher Davies, Swansea, 1986) {{ISBN|9780715406656}}
• The Theory of Cosmic Grains (with Fred Hoyle) (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991) {{ISBN|9780792311898}}
• Life on Mars? The Case for a Cosmic Heritage (with Fred Hoyle) (Clinical Press, Bristol, 1997) {{ISBN|9781854570413}}
• Astronomical Origins of Life: Steps towards Panspermia (with Fred Hoyle) (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2000) {{ISBN|9780792360810}}
• Cosmic Dragons: Life and Death on Our Planet (Souvenir Press, London, 2001) {{ISBN|9780285636064}}
• Fred Hoyle's Universe (ed. with G. Burbidge and J. Narlikar) (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2003) {{ISBN|9781402014154}}
• A Journey with Fred Hoyle (World Scientific, Singapore, 2005) {{ISBN|9789812565792}}
• Comets and the Origin of Life (with J. Wickramasinghe and W. Napier) (World Scientific, Hackensack NJ, 2010) {{ISBN|9789812814005}}
• [http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/8622 A Journey with Fred Hoyle, Second Edition] (World Scientific, Singapore, April 2013) {{ISBN|9789814436120}}
• The search for our cosmic ancestry, World Scientific, New Jersey 2015, {{ISBN|978-981-461696-6}}.
• {{cite book |last1=Walker |first1=Theodore |last2=Wickramasinghe |first2=Chandra |title=The Big Bang and God: An Astro-Theology |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-349-57419-3 |doi=10.1057/9781137535030 }}

• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1962. On graphite particles as interstellar grains, Mon.Not.Roy.Astr.Soc. 124, 417-433
• {{cite journal | last1 = Hoyle | first1 = F. | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = N.C. | year = 1969 | title = Interstellar Grains | journal = Nature | volume = 223 | issue = 5205| pages = 450–462 | doi = 10.1038/223459a0 |bibcode = 1969Natur.223..459H | s2cid = 4209522 }}
• Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1974. Formaldehyde polymers in interstellar space, Nature 252, 462-463{{cite journal|url=http://journalofcosmology.com/JoC16pdfs/Wick_2R%20-%20Copy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713060647/http://journalofcosmology.com/JoC16pdfs/Wick_2R%20-%20Copy.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 13, 2020 |author=Wickramasinghe, N. C. |title=Formaldehyde polymers in interstellar Space |publisher=Cosmology Science Publishers |access-date=2013-01-18}}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Wickramasinghe | first1 = N.C. | last2 = Hoyle | first2 = F. | last3 = Brooks | first3 = J. | last4 = Shaw | first4 = G. | year = 1977 | title = Prebiotic polymers and infrared spectra of galactic sources | journal = Nature | volume = 269 | issue = 5630| pages = 674–676 | doi = 10.1038/269674a0 |bibcode = 1977Natur.269..674W | s2cid = 4266722 }}
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1977. Identification of the λ2,200A interstellar absorption feature, Nature 270, 323-324
• {{cite journal|url=http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/RefA1.pdf |first1=Hoyle |last1=F. |first2=Wickramasinghe |last2=N. C. |title=Primitive grain clumps and organic compounds in carbonaceous chondrites |journal=Nature |volume=264 |issue=5581 |date=1976-11-04 |access-date=2013-01-18|doi= 10.1038/264045a0 |pages=45–46|bibcode = 1976Natur.264...45H }}
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1977. Polysaccharides and infrared spectra of galactic sources, Nature 268, 610-612{{cite journal|url=http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/RefA2.pdf |first1=Hoyle |last1=F. |first2=Wickramasinghe |last2=N. C. |title=Polysaccharides and infrared spectra of galactic sources |journal=Nature |volume=268 |issue=5621 |date=1977-08-18 |access-date=2013-01-18|pages=610–612|doi=10.1038/268610a0 |bibcode = 1977Natur.268..610H |s2cid=4170736 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Hoyle | first1 = F. | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = N.C. | year = 1979 | title = On the nature of interstellar grains | journal = Astrophysics and Space Science | volume = 66 | pages = 77–90 | doi = 10.1023/A:1002462602776|bibcode = 1999Ap&SS.268..249H | s2cid = 189820472 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Hoyle | first1 = F. | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = N.C. | year = 1979 | title = Biochemical chromophores and the interstellar extinction at ultraviolet wavelengths | journal = Astrophysics and Space Science | volume = 65 | issue = 1| pages = 241–244 | doi = 10.1007/BF00643503 | bibcode=1979Ap&SS..65..241H| s2cid = 120184918 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Hoyle | first1 = F. | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = N.C. | last3 = Al-Mufti | first3 = S. | display-authors = etal | year = 1982 | title = Infrared spectroscopy over the 2.9-3.9 μm waveband in biochemistry and astronomy | journal = Astrophysics and Space Science | volume = 83 | pages = 405–409 | doi = 10.1023/A:1002417307802 |bibcode = 1999Ap&SS.268..161H }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Hoyle | first1 = F. | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = N.C. | last3 = Al-Mufti | first3 = S. | year = 1982 | title = Organo-siliceous biomolecules and the infrared spectrum of the Trapezium nebula | journal = Astrophysics and Space Science | volume = 86 | issue = 1| pages = 63–69 | doi = 10.1007/BF00651830 | bibcode=1982Ap&SS..86...63H| s2cid = 120249547 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Hoyle | first1 = F. | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = N.C. | year = 1983 | title = Bacterial life in space | journal = Nature | volume = 306 | issue = 5942| page = 420 | doi = 10.1038/306420a0 | pmid = 6646221 |bibcode = 1983Natur.306..420H | doi-access = free }}
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1986. The case for life as a cosmic phenomenon, Nature 322, 509-511{{cite journal|url=http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/nature.pdf |first1=Hoyle |last1=F. |first2=Wickramasinghe |last2=N. C. |title=The case for life as a cosmic phenomenon |journal=Nature |volume=322 |issue=6079 |pages=509–511|doi=10.1038/322509a0 |date=1986-08-07 |access-date=2013-01-18|bibcode = 1986Natur.322..509H |s2cid=4248740 }}
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1990. Influenza – evidence against contagion, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 83. 258-261{{cite journal|last1=Hoyle |first1=F. |last2=Wickramasinghe |first2=N. C. |title=Influenza-evidence against contagion: discussion paper |pages=258–261 |volume=83 |issue=4 |date=April 1990 |pmc=1292615 |pmid=2342043 |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine|doi=10.1177/014107689008300417 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Napier | first1 = W.M. | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = J.T | last3 = Wickramasinghe | first3 = N.C. | year = 2007 | title = The origin of life in comets | journal = International Journal of Astrobiology | volume = 6 | issue = 4| pages = 321–323 | doi = 10.1017/S1473550407003941 |bibcode = 2007IJAsB...6..321N | s2cid = 121008660 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Rauf | first1 = K. | last2 = Wickramasinghe | first2 = C. | year = 2010 | title = Evidence for biodegradation products in the interstellar medium | journal = International Journal of Astrobiology | volume = 9 | issue = 1| pages = 29–34 | doi = 10.1017/S1473550409990334 |bibcode = 2010IJAsB...9...29R | citeseerx = 10.1.1.643.9541 | s2cid = 17336375 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Wickramasinghe | first1 = N. C. | year = 2010 | title = The astrobiological case for our cosmic ancestry | journal = International Journal of Astrobiology | volume = 9 | issue = 2| pages = 119–129 | doi = 10.1017/S1473550409990413 | bibcode=2010IJAsB...9..119W| s2cid = 13978227 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Wickramasinghe | first1 = N.C. | last2 = Wallis | first2 = J. | last3 = Wallis | first3 = D.H. | last4 = Schild | first4 = R.E. | last5 = Gibson | first5 = C.H. | year = 2012 | title = Life-bearing planets in the solar vicinity | journal = Astrophysics and Space Science | volume = 341 | issue = 2| pages = 295–9 | doi = 10.1007/s10509-012-1092-8 |bibcode = 2012Ap&SS.341..295W | s2cid = 120484953 }}
• Chandra Wickramasinghe, A Journey with Fred Hoyle: The Search for Cosmic Life, World Scientific Publishing, 2005, {{ISBN|981-238-912-1}}
• Janaki Wickramasinghe, Chandra Wickramasinghe and William Napier, Comets and the Origin of Life, World Scientific Publishing, 2009, {{ISBN|981-256-635-X}}
• Chandra Wickramasinghe and Daisaku Ikeda, Space and Eternal Life, Journeyman Press, 1998, {{ISBN|1-85172-060-X}}

• Panspermia
• Red rain in Kerala
• Milton Wainwright

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• [http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/directory/professor-chandra-wickramasinghe/ Professor Wickramasinghe's profile at the University of Buckingham]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071011005648/http://www.mail-archive.com/mythfolk@yahoogroups.com/msg00167.html Interviews]
• [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/basic_connect?qsearch=Chandra+Wickramasinghe&version=1 Publication List Chandra Wickramasinghe]@ Astrophysics Data System
• [https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/undead-matter-1-emergent-interstellar-dust Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe in conversation with artist and poet, Himali Singh Soin, podcast, 2022]

{{Extraterrestrial life}}

{{Astrobiology}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wickramasinghe, Chandra}}

Category:1939 births

Category:Academics of Cardiff University

Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge

Category:Alumni of Royal College, Colombo

Category:Alumni of the University of Ceylon

Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge

Category:Astrobiologists

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Category:Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge

Category:Living people

Category:Panspermia

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