Genetic building blocks may have formed in space
Some fundamental building blocks of our genetic code might have come from outer space, according to a controversial new meteorite study.
The study suggests that some organic compounds associated with genetic material might have formed in a meteorite called Murchison before it landed in Australia in 1969. The chemicals are two kinds of nucleobases, ring-like carbon molecules that are essential for the creation of nucleic acids like DNA and RNA.
The find might bolster claims that meteorites delivered some of the chemicals needed to create life. "It boosts the idea that the origin of life on Earth may have had an important contribution from an extraterrestrial object," says lead author Zita Martins, a chemist at Imperial College London in the UK.
