Life on earth may owe its existence to ‘space sugar’
Washington: An international of Nasa team have found sugars in 2 meteorites that crashed into earth billions of years ago. The new discovery adds to the growing list of biologically important compounds that have been found in meteorites, supporting the hypothesis that chemical reactions in asteroids — the parent bodies of many meteorites — can make some of life’s ingredients. If correct, meteorite bombardment on ancient earth may have assisted the origin of life with a supply of life’s building blocks.
In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers analyzed three meteorites, including one that landed in Australia in 1969 and dates back billions of years. Previous studies have also tried to investigate the meteors for sugar — but this time, researchers used a different extraction method using hydrochloric acid and water. The researchers found sugars like arabinose and xylose — but the most significant finding was ribose.
Ribose plays a hugely important part in our human biology. It exists in our RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules, and delivers messages from our
DNA to help build proteins for our bodies, according to the press release.
“It is remarkable that a molecule as fragile as ribose could be detected in such ancient material,” said Jason Dworkin of NASA, a co-author of the study, in the press release.
The discovery of ribose also suggests that RNA evolved before DNA, giving scientists a clearer picture of how life may have formed.
According to the press release, DNA has long been regarded as “the template for life” — but RNA molecules have more capabilities, like replicating without the help of other molecules. These additional capabilities, combined with the fact that researchers have yet to find the sugars in DNA in meteorites, supports the theory that “RNA coordinated the machinery of life before DNA.”
“The research provides the first direct evidence of ribose in space and the delivery of the sugar to Earth,” said Yoshihiro Furukawa of Japan’s Tohoku University, lead author of the study. “The extraterrestrial sugar might have contributed to the formation of RNA on the prebiotic Earth which possibly led to the origin of life,” he added.