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.
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."
-
The moon is rustingUnder the radar The Earth is likely to blame
-
Panspermia: the theory that life was sent to Earth by aliensUnder The Radar New findings have resurfaced an old, controversial idea
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programsThe Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
-
NASA reveals ‘clearest sign of life’ on Mars yetSpeed Read The evidence came in the form of a rock sample collected on the planet
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Hurricanes are not exclusive to Earth. They can happen in space.Under the radar These storms may cause navigational problems
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Why does the US want to put nuclear reactors on the moon?Today's Big Question The plans come as NASA is facing significant budget cuts
