ICARUS 3 8 , 1 4 8 - 1 5 3 (1979)

Is Bacteriophage ~X174 DNA a Message from an

Extraterrestrial Intelligence?
HIROMITSU Y O K O O * AND T A I R O O S H I M A t
*Department of Physics, School of Medicine, Kyorin University Hachioji, Tokyo 192, Japan and
tMitsubishi-Kasei Institute of Life Sciences, Machida, Tokyo 19~, Japan
Received May 22, 1978; revised August 30, 1978

We speculate that a simple biological system carrying a message and capable of self-replica-
tion in suitable environments may be one possible channel for interstellar communication.
A preliminary experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that phage ~bX174 DNA
carries a message from an advanced civilization.

Electromagnetic waves are generally A BIOLOGICAL MEDIUM

accepted as the best m e d i u m for interstellar
I t might be possible t h a t a civilization
communication (Cocconi and Morrison,
more a d v a n c e d t h a n ours prepares an
1959; Bracewell, 1960; Drake, 1961;
artificial or artificially modified phage (or
Cameron, 1963; Shklovskii and Sagan,
bacterial) D N A which is capable of pro-
1966; Oliver and Billingham, 1971; Pon-
liferating actively under suitable conditions
n a m p e r u m a and Cameron, 1974; Black
and at the same time carries an intelligent
et al., 1977), and little a t t e n t i o n has been
message encoded in its base sequence. Bio-
paid to other information transfer systems.
chemistry on our planet is still not ad-
So far, 13 projects have been devoted to
vanced enough to synthesize such sophisti-
the search for radio signals which might be
cated biomolecules, but, judging from the
t r a n s m i t t e d to us b y other civilizations
recent progress in biological sciences, it is
(Black et al., 1977). N u m e r o u s discussions
most likely t h a t our civilization will gain
h a v e also been devoted to the a p p r o p r i a t e
enough information to carry out such a
receiving systems and frequencies to be
project within a few decades. I t has already
used. H o w e v e r no scientific a t t e m p t seems
been suggested t h a t there is no technical
to h a v e been m a d e to search for messages
difficulty in sending a phage or micro-
from extraterrestrial intelligence ( E T I ) b y
organism to other stars (Crick and Orgel,
media other t h a n electromagnetic radia-
1973). T h e message-carrying particles en-
tions. capsulated for safety can easily be launched
T h e purpose of this p a p e r is to stress
to other stars directionally or isotropically
t h a t biological media should not be
b y a civilization such as ours.
neglected as possible information exchange
Biological media h a v e certain a d v a n t a g e s
systems between interstellar civilizations,
over electromagnetic waves. The phage or
and to encourage the examination of
certain living systems. A preliminary effort microorganism carrying the message can
has been made to investigate whether or self-replicate after arriving on an ap-
not phage ~bX174 D N A carries a message propriate planet. Unlike long distance tele-
from an a d v a n c e d society. communications, subiect always to signal-

148
0019-1035/79/040148-06502.00/0
Copyright O 1979 b y Academic Press, Inc.
All rights of reproduction in a n y form reserved.
 PHAGE DNA AND INTERSTELLAR MESSAGE
to-noise radio problems, biological messages
can be a u t o m a t i c a l l y copied and cover the
entire planet. Errors occurring in the
replication would be excluded, since mu-
t a n t s are expected to be weeded out in so
far as the genetic structure of the phage
(or microbe) is perfectly a d a p t e d to its
environment. Essential parts of D N A from
such organisms m a y be preserved as long
as the ecological niche for the organism is
maintained.
C o m p a r e d to radiation, biological mes-
sages can be easily received, since they
proliferate over the planet and remain for
a long period after delivery. We were not
capable of detecting extraterrestrial radio
messages before the late 1950s when
scientific interest in interstellar c o m m u n i c a -
tion was initiated. E v e n at this m o m e n t , we
m a y miss m a n y messages from space, be-
cause, for example, their frequencies m a y
differ from our expectations.
Biological media are free from such
difficult problems as duration time, fre-
quency and bandwidth, direction and
directivity of antennas, and distance.
Moreover, increasing demands on the
radiofrequency s p e c t r u m from communica-
tions for a society's own purposes would
eventually impede the detection of signals
f r o m other civilizations. At present on our
planet, astronomers who are interested in
the search for E T I are concerned a b o u t rf
interferences from satellites, balloons, and
aircraft, as well as ground t r a n s m i t t e r s (see
Science 200, 1467-1468, June 30, 1978).
Among the weaknesses in biological
information transfer for interstellar com-
munication, the most serious one is t h a t the
message can be sent only to a planet on
which the biochemistry is c o m m o n to the
sender. For example, phages or bacteria
from our planet can be sent to a planet on
which life consists of L-amino acids,
D-sugars, and c o m m o n nucleotide bases.
Proteins on t h a t planet m u s t be synthesized
b y using the same genetic code as ours.
Although it is v e r y difficult to speculate
149
on how m a n y stars share with us a c o m m o n
biochemistry, it m a y be pointed out t h a t
amino acids found in the Murchison
meteorite were reported to be similar to
those synthesized in simulated primordial
E a r t h experiments ( K v e n v o l d e n et al.,
1971). If every step in the course of
chemical evolution was an inevitable event,
then these steps would be repeated on a
planet with an e n v i r o n m e n t closely resembl-
ing t h a t of the primitive Earth, giving rise
to life with an identical biochemistry as
ours. Indeed nucleic acids seem to be the
molecule of choice, intrinsically suited for
genetic material due to their tendency to
form base-paired structures. I t is difficult
to imagine polymers other t h a n nucleic
acids which are able to play a similar key
role in a replicating system.
Therefore it seems to us quite likely,
t h a t wherever life is present in the universe,
its genetic system is based on nucleic acids
or on the related compounds. I t is now
generally accepted t h a t there are v e r y great
n u m b e r s of stars in the G a l a x y which are
similar to our Sun, and t h a t extrasolar
p l a n e t a r y systems are likewise a b u n d a n t .
For these chemical and astronomical rea-
sons, it is not unreasonable to imagine t h a t
our kind of biochemistry is c o m m o n in the
Galaxy.
~X174 DNA AS A CANDIDATE
INTERSTELLAR MESSAGE
Intelligent beings far more a d v a n c e d
t h a n we m a y prepare or select a message-
carrying D N A , an a t t r a c t i v e molecule for
biochemists on Earth, because the sender
expects t h a t such a message will be decoded
early. Perhaps the selected D N A is one
of the m i n i m u m size DNAs, and is one of
the most familiar D N A s for the receiver.
Phage ~bX174 is a virus infectious to an
enteric b a c t e r i u m inhabiting the colon of
the only intelligent beings on the E a r t h ;
its genetic material is one of the smallest.
I t is also the first D N A for which the
150 YOKO0 AND 0SHIMA

entire nucleotide sequence has been deter-

mined (Sanger et al., 1977).
There are a n u m b e r of possible objections
to phage ~bX174 as a message carrier: For
instance, p h a g e - h o s t interactions are highly
specific. Viral growth requires a specific
host cell to which the virus is adapted. F r o m
our biochemical v a n t a g e point, it is ex-
tremely difficult to u n d e r s t a n d how a
sender might be capable of predicting the
specific interaction between ~bX174 and
Escherichia coli. However, a superior society
m a y have fully elucidated all relevant
mechanisms and possess a comprehensive
theory of p a r a s i t e - h o s t interactions. I t m a y
not be impossible for such a sophisticated
society to predict the biochemical proper-
ties of a b a c t e r i u m inhabiting the intestines
of other intelligent beings and to design a
phage infectious to this bacteria.
There are hundreds of small phages
infectious to E. coli; ~bX174 is one of them
and the question is which virus, if any,
carries an extraterrestrial message. Some
of these small phages might have diver-
sified from a common ancestor. For in- FIG. 1. Genetic structure of ~174 DNA, modified
stance, phage S13 and G phages are after a figure appearing in Sanger et al., (1977).
closely related to ~X174 (Godson, 1974).
The message m a y be widely copied in those of phages and would only be se-
D N A s of these viruses derived from a quenced long after the sequence deter-
common ancestor, if the message was ruination of small DNAs. I n our society,
encoded in the ancestor's DNA. The serious interest in E T I arose soon after
ancestor might interact less specifically some f u n d a m e n t a l understanding of the
with some intestinal bacteria, and the structure of matter, the Universe, and
specificity to host strain and efficient living systems. Perhaps these scientific
growth could be established through an developments and the search for E T I are
evolutionary divergence after arriving on closely interrelated in a n y intelligent
this planet. I n this case, it m a y be easier society. One of the smallest phages could
t h a n we ordinarily think for the sender to be a more likely messenger candidate t h a n
predict the biochemistry of E. coli, which a microorganism, because the sender ex-
is necessary to prepare the messenger. pects t h a t the D N A of a small phage can
As a biological message carrier, bacteria be sequenced at a time when the interest
(especially autotrophs), algae, fungi, and in detecting other intelligences is rapidly
their spores are free from the a b o v e - m e n - growing in the receiver's academic world.
tioned difficulty of the p h a g e - h o s t specif- F r o m these considerations, 0X174 m a y
icity, because they are self-replicating be thought, along with other small viruses,
without direct aid of other living species. to be one of the most likely candidates.
However, their D N A s are m u c h larger t h a n Using D N A of this phage, we a t t e m p t e d to
 PHAGE DNA AND INTERSTELLAR MESSAGE 151

GAA TGG AAC AAC TCA CTA A#~A ACC AAG CTG TCG preserved b y strong evolutionary pressure
CTA CTT CCC AAG AAG CTG TTC AGA ATC AGA ATG for high stability.
CGC AAC TTC GGG ATG AAA ATG CTC ACA ATG
On the other hand, the so-called spacer
AGC
sequence, between two adjacent genes,
ACA AAT CTG TCC ACG GAG TGC TTA ATC CAA CTT
might be changeable without a n y serious
ACC AAG CTG GGT TAC GAC GCG ACG CCG TTC AAC
evolutionary conse~tuence, so t h a t , if a
CAG ATA TTE AAG CAG AAC GCA AAA AGA GAG ATG
message is encoded in this region, the error
AGA TTG AGG CTG GGA AAA GTT ACT GTA GCC GAC rate will increase m a r k e d l y with time.
C-TT TTG GC5 GCG CAA CCT GTG ACG ACA AAT CTG
DECODING
CTC AAA TTT ATG CGC GCT TCG ATA AAA ATG ATT

GGC GTA TCC AAC CTG CAG AGT TTT ATC GCT
ATG ACG CAG AAG TTA ACA CTT TCG GAT ATT
FIG. 2. One hundred and twenty one triplet
codons from the A protein reading frames, which
are utilized in overlap to code the B protein. The B
protein, composed of 120 amino acid residues, is
coded by this sequence except for the first two and
the last nucleotide bases (Sanger et al., 1977). The
four DNA nucleotides are represented by their
conventional symbols, A, G, C, and T.
decode a possible interstellar message
carried b y a biomolecule. We consider this
exercise a p r o t o t y p e for future such efforts.
A r e m a r k a b l e feature in the genetic
structure of ~X174 D N A is the presence
of overlapping genes (Fig. 1) (Sanger et al.,
1977). T h e coding sequence for the B
protein is totally contained in t h a t for the
A protein. T h e reading frame for the B
protein is shifted from t h a t for the A
protein. Similarly the gene for E is con-
tained in the coding sequence of the D
protein. At present, it is quite difficult to
explain the origin and evolution of over-
lapping genes in t e r m s of molecular evolu-
tion. However, as one possible explanation,
it might be reasonable to speculate on an
artificial origin, t h a t is, t h a t this D N A was
synthesized b y a v e r y a d v a n c e d technology.
Concerning the site where the message
is most likely to be encoded, the sequence
for overlapping genes seems the most
probable candidate. M u t a t i o n s occurring
in this area tend powerfully to be eliminated
b y selection, since a single change in the
sequence m a y affect the chemical structures
of the two proteins simultaneously. Mes-
sages encoded in this sequence m a y be
TCC A preliminary trial was made based on
TCT
the suggestion proposed b y D r a k e (1974;
see also Shklovskii and Sagan, 1966) t h a t
one of the probable types of interstellar
message would be a two-dimensional pic-
ture. We find t h a t the n u m b e r of amino
acid residues of the A protein of which
triplet codons are, totally or at least
partially, used to encode the B protein, is
121, t h a t is, the square of the prime n u m b e r
11. This fact enables us to arrange the
sequence into an 11 X 11 square array.
T h e 363 nucleotide sequence of this region
of ¢X174 D N A is listed in Fig. 2.
T h e r e are several ways to draw a two-
dimensional picture from the sequence in
Fig. 2. T a k i n g into an account the de-
generacy of the genetic code, it will be
relatively easy for the sender to encode a
message in the third nucleotides of the A
protein reading frame or the second nucleo-
tides, which are the third in the B protein
coding frame. H o w e v e r to minimize the
error rate, it is b e t t e r to encode the message
in the first nucleotides of the A f r a m e
( = t h e second nucleotides of the B), since
change in these nucleotides m a y cause
catastrophic m u t a t i o n s in b o t h the A and
B protein reading frames.
First, three 11 X 11 a r r a y s consisting of
the first, second, and third nucleotides,
respectively, of the sequence shown in Fig.
2, were painted using four different colors
to recognize the distribution p a t t e r n of
the four nucleotide bases. No meaningful
image emerged from these "color-blind
test charts." Next, we a t t e m p t e d to convert
the nucleotide sequence into a binary
152 YOKOO AND OSHIMA

C f

FIG. 3. Possible two-dimensional pictures constructed from the sequence listed in Fig. 2. The
first (a, d), second (b, e), and third (c, f) nucleotides were arranged in 11 X 11 arrays, respectively.
These letters were put in order from top left to bottom right as in writing an English sentence.
In pictures a-c, dark squares were given to purine bases; in d-f, guanine and cytosine were as-
signed dark squares.

s y s t e m . One s y s t e m we h a v e d e s i g n a t e s t h e
p u r i n e s , a d e n i n e a n d g u a n i n e , as 1 a n d t h e
p y r i m i d i n e s as 0. A l t e r n a t i v e l y , g u a n i n e
a n d c y t o s i n e , a c o m p l e m e n t a r y p a i r , were
d e s i g n a t e d as 1, a n d 0 w a s a s s i g n e d t o t h e
o t h e r b a s e pair. I m a g e s t h u s o b t a i n e d a r e
i l l u s t r a t e d in Fig. 3.
On t h e s e a r r a y s , w e m i g h t h a v e f o u n d
a s i m p l e m a r k s u c h as cross, X , s q u a r e , o r
t r i a n g l e . T h e figure m a y h a v e p a r t l y b e e n
d e s t r o y e d or d i s t u r b e d d u e t o b a s e r e p l a c e -
ments (mutations) over the long period
a f t e r t h e m e s s a g e - c a r r i e r is h y p o t h e s i z e d t o
h a v e a r r i v e d on t h i s p l a n e t . S u c h s i m p l e
 PHAGE DNA AND INTERSTELLAR MESSAGE
figure (s) would tell us t h a t somewhere and
sometime there existed an advanced
civilization other t h a n our own. No more
elaborate information concerning the
sender's society could be incorporated in
so short a message as an 11 X 11 array.
Such a message might be the swan song
of an advanced technology, or perhaps a
trigger to stimulate our search for E T I .
Unfortunately, no significant pattern
was observed on the arrays so far examined.
However further speculation is irresistable.
The coding sequence for the E protein
which overlaps the D protein sequence
(Fig. 1), consists of 273 nucleotide bases,
that is, 91 codons, the product of two prime
numbers, 7 X 13. However, no significant
figure was discerned on each of the six
7 X 13 or 13 X 7 arrays constructed from
the E protein coding sequence. Recently
the presence of a third overlapping gene
has been suggested (Shaw et al., 1978) : the
gene named K begins two nucleotides after
the end of the B protein sequence, overlaps
genes A and C (see Fig. 1), and terminates
somewhere in the C protein sequence. I t is
interesting to note t h a t the sequence from
the initiation of the B protein reading
frame to the end of the K gene (including
the termination codon for the K protein),
which is read in overlap in translations of
the A, B, C, and K proteins, consists of 533
nucleotides, again the product of two prime
numbers, 13 X 41 (No effort has been made
to construct arrays using this part of the
nucleotide sequence.)
Another possibility is t h a t the sequence
shown in Table I is the first half of a tally.
The other half might be hidden in an-
other part of ~bX174 D N A , or in another
bacteriophage DNA. Our future plans for
the search for a biological message in-
clude construction of more sophisticated
arrays (or three-dimensional pictures) from
~bX174 and related phage D N A sequences
as well as analysis of other phage or
153
bacterial plasmid D N A sequences, when
completed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are grateful to Dr. Kamaluddin,
Mitsubishi-Kasei Institute of Life Sciences, for
his valuable discussions in preparing the manuscript.
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