What would life in a far-flung star system look like? Would humans even recognize it as life? A new theory says yes, we would. In fact, life on other planets (or moons, or asteroids) might look surprisingly similar to life here on Earth, University of Oxford scientists wrote in a paper published in the International Journal of Astrobiology on Oct. 31. That's because life on other planets would likely be subject to natural selection, just like life on Earth is. And if life is subject to natural selection, it is likely to share similarities, even if it isn't carbon-based, for example, or codes its operating instructions in a way entirely different from DNA. "Living things are adapted," study co-author Samuel Levin, a doctoral candidate in zoology at the University of Oxford, wrote in an email to Live Science. "They appear to be 'trying to do things' like eat, survive, grow, reproduce." The only way to adapt, Levin said, is through natural selection, the process through which hereditary