This is the first time scientists have found a key RNA building block in an asteroid. Such findings show that life blueprints could have been transported to earth from sources beyond the planet and that life forms may exist across the solar system.
Uracil Found in Asteroid Ryugu Samples
Live Science reports that a team of Japanese scientists conducted new analyses of asteroid Ryugu samples. They used a new technique that they designed to aid with small-scale detection and nucleobase identification.
According to Science Alert, the scientists got two asteroid samples that were taken from different regions of the rock. These samples were then soaked in hot water and subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography along with electrospray ionization and high-resolution mass spectrometry. When the said technique was used on the Murchison meteorite that hit earth in 1969, all five nucleobases were yielded.
By doing so, they discovered uracil, which is one of the five nucleobases that the genetic code consists of. Along with uracil, there was vitamin B3 and other organic molecules. While this biomolecule range was smaller, the researchers still believe that it is important.
Prior study of meteorites on the earth's surface revealed that they contained the five nucleobases necessary for fostering life. However, scientists were uncertain if these were present before reaching earth or if they resulted from the earth's atmosphere contaminating the rocks.
The new analysis of the asteroid Ryugu's samples offers vital hints regarding how the universe may be filled with molecules that foster life. The study was published in the Nature Communications journal.
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Building Blocks of Life
Yasuhiro Oba, an astrochemist from Hokkaido University, mentioned to Live Science that, as long as uracil and other nucleobases are there in space, this means that nucleic acid (RNA and DNA) ingredients are present. Oba expresses his personal opinion that it may be difficult to rule out the possibility that life forms are present in such extraterrestrial environments.
These five nucleobases- namely, guanine, adenine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil-mix with phosphate and ribose to form RNA and DNA. Both RNA and DNA make up the genetic codes of each life on the planet. From this code, cells get manufactured. DNA unzips and gets transcribed to RNA. The RNA makes the proteins, which act as microscopic machines that help with the building and maintenance of cells. They also assist in creating more DNA copies.
Live Science notes that the formation of life blueprints on the asteroid Ryugu and other interstellar clouds is still not deeply understood. The researchers think that the nucleotides and amino acids were made when interstellar ice got zapped by strong cosmic rays. This may have resulted in the breakdown of the simple molecules inside and their reconstitution into configurations that are more intricate. After getting trapped inside Ryugu-life asteroids, such molecules may have hitched a ride through meteorite hits.
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