Scientists say that all the parts of our DNA have now been found on meteorites. What’s the meaning? Life on Earth could have come from space, plain and simple.
Scientists wrote on April 26 in Nature Communications that the five base components that DNA and RNA use to store information were found in rocks from space that fell to Earth over the past century.
Adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil are the five “nucleobases.” They, along with a few sugars and phosphates, make up the genetic code for all life on Earth.
Researchers have found two important parts of DNA and RNA in a 2-gram piece of the meteorite that fell near Murchison, Australia, in 1969. This is the first time that these parts have been found in a source outside of Earth.
Scientists think that these ingredients either came from space or grew in a hot soup that was made on Earth long ago. With these new findings, there is more proof for the first theory.
How were these chemicals taken out?
Scientists say that adenine and guanine are two of the few things that have been found in meteorites since the 1960s. Science News said that uracil was also found in small amounts, but cytosine and thymine are still “elusive.”
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s Daniel Glavin said that they have “completed the set of all the bases found in DNA, RNA, and life on Earth.” He also said that these bases are found in meteorites.
Yasuhiro Oba’s team from Japan’s Hokkaido University and astrochemists from NASA worked together on the study. A few years ago, Oba came up with a way to carefully dig into meteorite dust and separate the different chemical compounds.
Scientists found bases and compounds that make life possible in four meteorites from Australia, the US state of Kentucky, and the Canadian province of British Columbia. They did this by using a gentle extraction method that uses cold water instead of acids.
Since these compounds were found in meteorites, it’s possible that they came from space and helped make life on Earth what it is today.
What do you think of this new information? Tell us in the comments section below.
Source: theancientzen.c0m
