RNA Molecule Uracil Found In Asteroid Ryugu Samples (phys.org) 34
Researchers have analyzed samples of the asteroid Ryugu collected by the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft and found uracil, one of the informational units that make up RNA, the molecules that contain the instructions for how to build and operate living organisms. Nicotinic acid, also known as Vitamin B3 or niacin, which is an important cofactor for metabolism in living organisms, was also detected in the same samples. Phys.Org reports: This discovery by an international team, led by Associate Professor Yasuhiro Oba at Hokkaido University, adds to the evidence that important building blocks for life are created in space and could have been delivered to Earth by meteorites. The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers extracted these molecules by soaking the Ryugu particles in hot water, followed by analyses using liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. This revealed the presence of uracil and nicotinic acid, as well as other nitrogen-containing organic compounds. "We found uracil in the samples in small amounts, in the range of 6-32 parts per billion (ppb), while vitamin B3 was more abundant, in the range of 49-99 ppb," Oba elaborated. "Other biological molecules were found in the sample as well, including a selection of amino acids, amines and carboxylic acids, which are found in proteins and metabolism, respectively." The compounds detected are similar but not identical to those previously discovered in carbon-rich meteorites.
The team hypothesizes that the difference in concentrations in the two samples, collected from different locations on Ryugu, is likely due to the exposure to the extreme environments of space. They also hypothesized that the nitrogen-containing compounds were, at least in part, formed from the simpler molecules such as ammonia, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide. While these were not detected in the Ryugu samples, they are known to be present in cometary ice -- and Ryugu could have originated as a comet or another parent body that had been present in low temperature environments.
The team hypothesizes that the difference in concentrations in the two samples, collected from different locations on Ryugu, is likely due to the exposure to the extreme environments of space. They also hypothesized that the nitrogen-containing compounds were, at least in part, formed from the simpler molecules such as ammonia, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide. While these were not detected in the Ryugu samples, they are known to be present in cometary ice -- and Ryugu could have originated as a comet or another parent body that had been present in low temperature environments.
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Key component (Score:2)
Life everywhere (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: Life everywhere (Score:3)
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This may also lead to other issues in the future.
For example if RNA or similar is discovered in Mars / Venus, etc in the future, does that mean life is there / was there or we can't say cos it may be just from an asteriod hit / naturally formed in those planets but have no connection to life as it did not have the necessary conditions, ever, in those planets?
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Huh? how does it confirm panspermia? If anything, it may be evidence against it. It could just mean that the RNA molecules form everywhere. Meaning it could have formed naturally on Earth too.
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This seems like it is bordering on the tautological to me. The definition of "panspermia" that I found online is "the theory that life on the earth originated from microorganisms or chemical precursors of life present in outer space and able to initiate life on reaching a suitable environment." (emphasis mine)
Would the atoms that compose DNA qualify as chemical precursors? If that's the case, then literally all precursors of life were present in outer space before they landed on the Earth. This would be
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Re:Life everywhere (Score:4, Interesting)
No... it doesnt. You are assuming that these molecules can only be made by a living organism. It is the opposite way: the are an external requirement for life. This is because they may be created without life. But their existence does not mean there is life, it just means that it could be there.
Makes sense (Score:4, Funny)
If I were an asteroid I'd get vaccinated too after seeing the shit happening on planet Earth.
In line with having airlocked an Alien? (Score:1)
I'm not saying that millennia ago some space-faring society had their own version of an Ellen Ripley disposing of an Alien, and we discovered the residue of the event, but all the evidence points to this being the case. If she never made it home, and we find her DNA, maybe can do a Fifth Element on her, and print her a new body. Can't wait to meet her!
I am not surprised. (Score:4)
of course it does (Score:5, Insightful)
We have seen this 50 years ago: random chemistry can create surprisingly complex molecules.
But also: the situation on that asteroid was not different from the time before first life: there was nothing there, and by accidental combination of available molecules life all of a sudden "happened". Any other explanation would require a deity.
So I would be surprised if the building blocks for life were *not* find everywhere
Re: of course it does (Score:2, Funny)
Letâ(TM)s have a good, long debate about the deity hypothesis. That sounds interesting.
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All hail, let me be the first to welcome our Lord and Master, Complex Chemistry, as our overlord.
Thou shall worship Complex Chemistry. There! You got yourself a deity!
Rationalists, being rationalists, under estimate the depths irrationalists can descend to.
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That's because the "This wouldn't exist without God" argument is a dead end philosophically. Philosophy's largest problem is that while logic can be applied in the abstract case to determine truth from falsehood, translation into the real world always results in the problem of accuracy; nothing in the real world is ever purely abstract, so to the degree to which something does not fit the abstract model is the degree to which philosophy becomes useless for solving real-world problems.
I have probably met
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However I do care about what they based on their beliefs. Because, for one thing, the actions can be observed and there is no ambiguity like true actions, pretend actions, delu
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PCR would be worthless for testing for a single molecule. It's value is in creating multiple copies of DNA/RNA strands. A single U molecule is not a strand and PCR would do nothing to it.
Uracil is a quite simple organic molecule and it's hardly surprising it occurs outside the earth. It is also commonly created on earth in non-living situations. Uracil has been extracted from meteorites before and other nucleobases (adenine & guanine) have been known to occur extraterrestially since the 1960s. They ar
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Thank you. I wanted to know how it occurs naturally, "without benefit of clergy."
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Nucleic Acids From Space (Score:3)
It would seem early "life" grabbed the good stuff that was around.
And whilst too slack to check I'd expect the same acids to be easily created right here on mud ball Earth.
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really doesn't mean anything (Score:4, Interesting)
The "building blocks of life" doubtless bear little resemblance to anything used in life today. So finding anything modern while searching for the origins of life means absolutely nothing.
Even if life did start with something very similar looking to RNA/DNA, it will have to be something that can self-replicate on its own. There's simply no chance that anything as complicated as a ribosome (that read DNA) spontaneously occurred.
We need to be looking for something MUCH simpler. Kind of reminds me of prions, that can rearrange other proteins they run into, without any other help. That's the sort of thing we need to look for.
But I haven't heard of anyone engineering a "broth" that contains a moderately complex molecule that is capable of self-replication, as long as it is surrounded by a supply of simpler components. THAT is what's going to be The origin of life right there.
And if you're looking for signs of extra-terrestrial life, assuming it's going to use DNA as we know it is a huge assumption. The only reason it's all over the planet here is it was outrageously more successful than whatever came before it. (and that success no doubt repeated several times until you get back to the first self-replicating structure)
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Aliens (Score:2)
We told you it was aliens. It's aliens all the way down.
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Asteroids (Score:2)