Final answer:
The theory that life was brought to Earth on meteorites is called panspermia. It suggests that life or its building blocks could have traveled through space in a dormant state, though there's no definitive evidence for this.
Step-by-step explanation:
The theory suggesting that life was transported to Earth in meteorites is referred to as panspermia. This idea posits that life, or the organic compounds necessary for its development, can be distributed throughout the universe via objects like meteoroids and asteroids. The theory of panspermia implies that these materials must have been in a state of cryptobiosis, meaning they were in a dormant form capable of withstanding the harsh conditions of space.
Although cryptobiotic life forms, such as bacterial spores and brine shrimp, exist on Earth, there is no concrete evidence to support the existence of such life on comets or meteorites. Moreover, while there's evidence for extraterrestrial sources of organic molecules, the primary question of how life originated, whether on Earth or elsewhere, remains unanswered.