What kinds of things would degrade DNA if it were trapped at the center of a mile-wide comet?

Question

What kinds of things would degrade DNA if it were trapped at the center of a mile-wide comet?

Answer 1

Cosmic rays, which are typically naked protons moving at very high speeds, can penetrate quite deep into the Earth.  That's the ones that managed to miss Earth's atmosphere.  They'd be able to damage DNA inside even a large comet.

Ice cores from Antarctica have recovered bacteria of various ages.   Despite higher protection of lower (and older) levels, older bacteria suffered more damage, and function more poorly than younger bacteria.  There seems to be an age limit.

And yet, some Earth bacteria seem to be essentially immortal. Bacteria have lasted tens of millions of years and revived when exposed to water and nutrients.

Interstellar transport of bacteria seems possible, but highly unlikely.

Answer 2

comets cary high amount of heat energy...in other terms,they r extremely hot..if u place DNA in that,the protein structure of the nucleotides will be damaged..hence,they will denature..just like for enzymes at high temperatures..So its obvious that DNA would degrade because of that high temperature.

thanks

Answer 3

the comet would provide a lot of sheilding from radiation due to it's thickness and the fact that it is most likely composed of frozen gasses. also, due to the extreme cold, the DNA would be preserved farly well (similar to cryogenics on earth, u know, freezing people). there wouldnt be that many things that could degrade DNA under those conditions.

Answer 4

Comets are cold. Very cold.

Cryogenics do not (yet) work very well on people.

The DNA would be preserved from radiation in general.  However, since I suspect it was not placed there by some careful technician, I suspect that the DNA would have been in a liquid suspension before being frozen in place.

If that liquid freezes to a crystal, the crystals could be like very sharp shards, cutting the DNA into strands, and not always in an organized fashion.  However, any damage done in this way would only be done at precise moments:  at the time the comet was formed (the liquid crystallizes) and whenever the comet is subjected to a hard enough bump (the shock wave could move the shards like so many tiny knives).