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Sweet Meteorites
Scientists have discovered sugars in a meteorite, adding to the list of complex organic molecules that have been found inside space rocks.
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December 20, 2001
A NASA scientist has discovered sugar and several related organic compounds in two meteorites -- providing the first evidence that another fundamental building block of life on Earth might have come from outer space.
Dr. George Cooper and co-workers from the NASA Ames Research Center found the sugary compounds in two carbon-rich (or "carbonaceous") meteorites. Previously, researchers had found inside meteorites other organic, carbon-based compounds that play major roles in life on Earth, such as amino acids and carboxylic acids, but no sugars.
Pass the sugar? The carbonaceous Murchison meteorite, pictured here, harbors sugar-related organic compounds.
Image copyright 2001 by New England Meteoritical Services.
The new research is reported in a paper, "Carbonaceous Meteorites as a Source of Sugar-related Organic Compounds for the Early Earth," by Cooper et al. that appears in today's issue of Nature.
"Finding these compounds greatly adds to our understanding of what organic materials could have been present on Earth before life began," Cooper said. "Sugar chemistry appears to be involved in life as far back as our records go." Recent research using ratios of carbon isotopes have pushed the origin of life on Earth to as far back as 3.8 billion years, he said. (An isotope is one of two or more atoms whose nuclei have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.)
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Cheers,
Dan
Sweet Meteorites . . .