Samples From Near-Earth Asteroid , Reveal Building Blocks of Life.
CNN reports that Japan's Hayabusa2 mission
has detected organic molecules in samples
collected from near-Earth asteroid Ryugu.
According to researchers, samples taken from
two different locations on the asteroid revealed
uracil, a key element in the building blocks of RNA.
CNN explains that uracil is a nitrogen-containing
compound, otherwise known as a nucleobase, and
one of the five nucleobases found in DNA and RNA.
The samples also revealed evidence of niacin,
otherwise known as B3, which plays a critical role
in the metabolic processes of living organisms.
CNN reports that Ryugu is known
to be a carbon-rich, diamond-shaped asteroid
measuring an estimated 3,000 feet wide.
Japan's Hayabusa2 mission was
the first attempt to bring back and analyze
a subsurface sample from an asteroid. .
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency
was the first to detect amino acids and other
molecules in the samples collected from Ryugu.
Scientists have previously found
nucleobases and vitamins in certain
carbon-rich meteorites, but there was
always the question of contamination
by exposure to the Earth’s environment, Yasuhiro Oba, lead study author and associate
professor at Hokkaido University in Japan, via CNN.
Since the Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected
two samples directly from asteroid Ryugu
and delivered them to Earth in sealed
capsules, contamination can be ruled out, Yasuhiro Oba, lead study author and associate
professor at Hokkaido University in Japan, via CNN.
The details of the team's
findings were published March 21
in the journal 'Nature Communications.'