(Some red blood cells have DNA, for instance, those of birds or frogs. Mammals, including humans, have red blood cells without nuclei, so they have very little DNA, just a bit in the mitochondria. Red blood cells of any kind are very sensitive to desiccation and wouldn't survive a trip through the atmosphere.)
Particle composition is 45% oxygen (!!), mentioned in The Observer article. That is so high, it ought to lead to spontaneous combustion if this is a biological object and not a mineral (where the oxygen is bound differently). 35% is high enough for that.
The original article (pdf) says the particles look glass-like, layered, and did not decompose after storage in water for 4 years at room temperature. In Kerala. Sounds like an interesting form of sand to me. The pictures show particles with a very thick outer layer, like a mineral accretion, and quite unlike any biological membrane or coat I've ever seen in over thirty years of messing about with biology.
The composition is Carbon: 49%, oxygen:45% (see above!), and traces of sodium, aluminum, silicon, chlorine, and iron. Where's the hydrogen? And the nitrogen? Living things are primarily composed of CHON. He's got a long way to go to make this plausible as living, to say nothing of proving it.
The authors say that the particles don't look like "the usual desert dust" that blows in from Arabia. They certainly don't look usual, but the evidence suggests that they're mineral, unusual or otherwise.
Possibly the connection with the meteor that the authors mention is that the hot meteor glassified dust grains in the atmosphere as it passed. Once these eventually settled out during rain storms, they formed this very unusual rain. One signature of meteor strikes is shocked and glassified quartz grains, some of which can be like microscopic beads.
Overall verdict: I can't belieeeeeve this was accepted for publication anywhere. It's not even internally consistent. |
