Life's building blocks may have formed in interstellar clouds

[Judi Lynn]

September 27, 2019

An experiment shows that one of the basic units of life -- nucleobases -- could have originated within giant gas clouds interspersed between the stars.

Essential building blocks of DNA -- compounds called nucleobases -- have been detected for the first time in a simulated environment mimicking gaseous clouds that are found interspersed between stars. The finding, published in the journal Nature Communications, brings us closer to understanding the origins of life on Earth.

"This result could be key to unravelling fundamental questions for humankind, such as what organic compounds existed during the formation of the solar system and how they contributed to the birth of life on Earth" says Yasuhiro Oba of Hokkaido University's Institute of Low Temperature Science.

Scientists have already detected some of the basic organic molecules necessary for the beginnings of life in comets, asteroids, and in interstellar molecular clouds: giant gaseous clouds dispersed between stars. It is thought that these molecules could have reached Earth through meteorite impacts some four billion years ago, providing key ingredients for the chemical cocktail that gave rise to life. Learning how these molecules formed is vital to understanding the origins of life.

More:
https://www.brightsurf.com/news/article/092719493234/lifes-building-blocks-may-have-formed-in-interstellar-clouds.html

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