DNA sugar can form in space, experiments show
Lab work adds to evidence that extraterrestrial organic compounds may have seeded life on Earth.
Laboratory experiments have shown that a sugar critical to the structure of DNA arises when ice formed on planets, asteroids and meteorites is subjected to ultraviolet radiation.
The result adds to evidence that organic molecules can form under nonbiological conditions, and extends the argument that the substances needed for life to emerge on Earth may have originally come from outer space. In a paper published in the journal
Nature Communications, researchers from NASA’S Ames Research Centre in the US report detecting 2-deoxyribose – the sugar component of DNA – and several deoxysugar derivatives in residues produced from the ultraviolet irradiation of ice mixtures under standard astrophysical conditions in the laboratory.
They also tested samples from selected meteorites and detected the presence of deoxysugars. The quantities were too small to permit the unambiguous identification of the DNA sugar, but the results are highly significant nevertheless.