Posted on 11/25/2019 11:07:33 AM PST by Red Badger
An international team of scientists at NASA have found sugar molecules on two different meteorites, the agency announced on Nov. 19.
The new discovery adds to the growing list of biologically important compounds that have been found in meteorites and supports the theory that chemical reactions in asteroids can play an important role in creating and supporting life, the space agency said in a statement.
Researchers said they discovered “ribose and other bio-essential sugars” in the extraterrestrial rock, adding that ribose is a “crucial component of RNA (ribonucleic acid)”—essential for the regulation and expression of genes.
“In much of modern life, RNA serves as a messenger molecule, copying genetic instructions from the DNA molecule (deoxyribonucleic acid) and delivering them to molecular factories within the cell called ribosomes that read the RNA to build specific proteins needed to carry out life processes,” they explained.
In a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers analysed three separate meteorites, including one dating back billions of years that landed in Australia in 1969.
Previous attempts were made to investigate the meteors for sugar. However this time, the researchers decided to utilize a new technique using hydrochloric acid and water, and found sugars like arabinose and xylose in addition to the significant find of ribose.
“Other important building blocks of life have been found in meteorites previously, including amino acids (components of proteins) and nucleobases (components of DNA and RNA), but sugars have been a missing piece among the major building blocks of life,” the study’s lead author, Yoshihiro Furukawa, said in a statement.
The discovery of ribose also suggests that RNA evolved first and was later replaced by DNA because RNA molecules have capabilities that DNA lack, adding to the evidence that scientists are using to develop a clearer understanding of how life may have formed.
“RNA can make copies of itself without ‘help’ from other molecules, and it can also initiate or speed up chemical reactions as a catalyst. The new work gives some evidence to support the possibility that RNA coordinated the machinery of life before DNA,” the report said.
Furukawa added: “The research provides the first direct evidence of ribose in space and the delivery of the sugar to Earth. The extra-terrestrial sugar might have contributed to the formation of RNA on the prebiotic Earth which possibly led to the origin of life.”
The research team now plans to analyze more meteorites to see how abundant these sugars are and if have they a left-handed or right-handed bias, as some molecules come in two varieties which are mirror images of each other.
“On Earth, life uses left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars. Since it’s possible that the opposite would work fine–right-handed amino acids and left-handed sugars. Scientists want to know where this preference came from,” the report explained.
In January, a report published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science said that researchers had found that two meteorites held other ingredients for life.
They included amino acids, hydrocarbons, other organic matter, and traces of liquid water which could date back to the earliest days of the solar system.
That’s not difficult to do.......................
That was a weird and sad movie...................
True.
Is the one with all the makeup the female of the species?
I’ve wondered that for years.
The best explanation for chirality that I have found is that the galaxy's magnetic field causes sunlight / starlight to be circularly polarized in one direction only, which preferentially degrades D-amino acids and favors L-amino acids.
Also, the weak nuclear force is (supposedly) chiral. The electrons emitted during beta decay favor one spin state; again making D-amino acids slightly more unstable than the L forms.
Most snails are hermaphrodites................but it still takes two................
“All these meteorites could have once come from a planet that had life and was destroyed by a nova or nuclear war or global warming or some such...”
Or greedy capitalists, ala James Cameron’s Avatar.
I knew there was a logical reason for my sweet tooth!
Thank, I get it, but of course, species who choose to hold them 180 degrees to this fashion might call them right and left-handed versions of the same species.
Unless one is 90% more prevalent? ;-)
So much is so subjective, one of the reasons I enjoy math rather than taxonomies and ontologies, etc.
“In before anyone interested in science makes a serious post.”
Einstein attributed philosophy to be the foundation of scientific progress and a serious inquiry into it as the “distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth”.
Where does this place you on the spectrum of “serious” truth seeking?
Thank you, that makes sense since enantiomers differ only in the direction of rotation of plane polarized light.
Yes but David Bowie and Bing Crosby singing together will also bring great joy
Brings new meaning to the phrase go f yourself
I saw that..................
please define “serious” truth seeking spectrum.
Left handed people have an IQ 30 points lower than the general public. It is due to them believing in phony fake statements.
8 presidents were left handed:
Barack Obama.
James Garfield.
Herbert Hoover.
Harry Truman.
Gerald Ford.
Ronald Reagan.
George H.W. Bush.
Bill Clinton.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.