Essential molecules for life may have been 'delivered' to Earth from space

The building blocks for life on Earth may have actually come from outer space, according to a new discovery by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Scientists found a number of organic molecules in samples from the asteroid Ryugu, collected in 2019. The molecules include uracil, a building block for RNA, as well as niacin, which is important to metabolism, ScienceAlert writes. "These molecules on Ryugu were recovered in a pristine extraterrestrial setting," said lead author of the study Yasuhiro Oba of Hokkaido University. "It was directly sampled on the asteroid Ryugu and returned to Earth, and finally to laboratories without any contact with terrestrial contaminants."
RNA is used by cells to send genetic information and niacin helps to energize living organisms, Reuters explains. "The discovery of biologically relevant molecules such as nucleobases in the most pristine extraterrestrial materials without any terrestrial contaminations guarantees that they are really present in extraterrestrial environments," said Oba. "Other biological molecules were found in the sample as well, including a selection of amino acids, amines and carboxylic acids, which are found in proteins and metabolism, respectively," he adds.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The discovery suggests that the necessary compounds for creating life may have been "delivered to the early Earth," per the report in the journal Nature Communications. "I cannot say the presence of such ingredients directly leads to the emergence/presence of extraterrestrial life," Oba commented. "But at least their components such as amino acids and nucleobases may be present everywhere in space."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.
-
Trump assigns tariffs, delays all except on Canada
Speed Read A 35% tariff on many Canadian goods has gone into effect
-
'Crony capitalism is a sharp break from free market ideals'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
August 1 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Friday’s political cartoons include thought replacement tools, the opposite of woke, and more
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet undersea
Speed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
Answers to how life on Earth began could be stuck on Mars
Under the Radar Donald Trump plans to scrap Nasa's Mars Sample Return mission – stranding test tubes on the Red Planet and ceding potentially valuable information to China
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
The treasure trove of platinum on the moon
Under the radar This kind of bounty could lead to commercial exploitation
-
Possible dwarf planet found at edge of solar system
Under the radar The celestial body has an unusual orbit
-
Why Elon Musk's satellites are 'dropping like flies'
Under The Radar Fierce solar activity destroying Starlink satellites
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Why is Nasa facing a crisis?
Today's Big Question Trump administration proposes 25% cut to national space agency's budget in 'extinction-level event'