The study shows that chemical reactions with rocks in space can create some of the building blocks of life.
Researchers from the University of Hokkaido in Japan, along with NASA scientists, found two missing units of DNA and RNA. This discovery shows that genetic units can carry asteroids to help build life from space to Earth. This was reported by SciTecDaily.
DNA and RNA contain information to create and sustain the life of any living creature on Earth. They also have five units of information – nitrogenous bases.
“We now have evidence that the full range of nitrogenous bases needed for the source of life may include meteorites on our planet,” said Danny Glavin of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
It is assumed that the missing units of information – cytosine and thymine, cannot be identified in advance, because they have a more fragile structure, and during the analysis of meteorite samples, these nitrogenous bases may masira.
“We’ve come up with a more subtle way of extracting compounds to find these fragile elements – cytosine and thymine,” the scientists added.
According to them, this discovery does not provide an unambiguous answer to the question of whether meteorites helped the emergence of life on Earth, or whether it originated on our planet on its own.
Recall that the American space agency NASA showed amazing images of how the Mars Phobos satellite passed against the background of the Sun.
Life may have originated in space – scientists
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Source: korrespondent
