Ongoing efforts to deconstruct the chemistry of the most pristine asteroid sample ever to grace a laboratory has now revealed a trove of organic molecules, lending evidence to theories that suggest biology has its roots ultimately in space.
sample ever to grace a laboratory has now revealed a trove of organic molecules, lending evidence to theories that suggest biology has its roots ultimately in space.was transported to Earth
These latest results confirm links between the carbon-based compounds found on stony 'chondrite' meteorites that have crashed to Earth's surface, and the chemistry of the asteroids they came from. "Previous analyses have revealed organic molecules within carbonaceous chondrites, but until now, we haven't been able to see whether or not these primitive projectiles differ from what's found on asteroids,"cosmochemist Larry Nittler, formerly from the Carnegie Institution of Washington and now with Arizona State University.
Often called the building blocks of life because of the role they play in sparking life into existence, the newly identified molecules include several types of amino acids that combine to make the proteins that organisms rely on to exist.These include organic compounds such as carboxylic acids, amines, and aromatic hydrocarbons; compounds that are closely related to a wide variety of molecules critical throughout the living world.
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