Is it possible to introduce life to a planet via preserved organism?

The dominant religion on my world (created by a race of dragon-like humanoids) believes that their species originates from an ancient being that sacrificed itself to defeat a great evil at the center of the cosmos. Its body remained adrift in space until it was eventually captured by the gravity of the young Earth-like planet that this species calls home. They believe this moment serves as the evolutionary beginning of the species, but also as the foundation of the land itself.

This idea is largely inspired by the panspermia hypothesis of distributing life across the universe, which I'll admit I'm still a bit shaky on the details of. In this case, this ancient being would be the vessel by which the necessary components of life were ferried to the planet, preserved in space within its body until such time that it just so happens to be lucky enough to come across a planet capable of harboring life. We can assume it managed to survive atmospheric entry, and that it crashed into a body of water if that helps the creation of life.

So this is of course a religious idea, but I'm curious to know if such a thing is actually possible:

(1) Could a life form (an utterly massive one, on the scale of a continent) remain adrift and preserved in space until its body collides with a habitable planet, introducing new bacteria/cells/genetic material that had remained dormant?

(2) Could this happen to the extent that some species that evolve from this event take on a similar appearance to the source, adapted by evolution?

posted about 4 years ago

Vigilant‭

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