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Prebiotic Chemistry

All articles tagged with #prebiotic chemistry

Amino Acids Entered Life's Code in Multiple Ways, Scientists Say
science5 days ago

Amino Acids Entered Life's Code in Multiple Ways, Scientists Say

A University of Arizona-led analysis rethinking the origin of life suggests the 20 canonical amino acids may have entered the genetic code from multiple abiotic routes rather than a single sequential order. Building on a 2024 PNAS study of protein domains in LUCA, newer work shows amino acids could originate from diverse early-Earth chemistry and that core cellular machinery can function with a reduced amino‑acid alphabet in engineered cells. This challenges the view that tryptophan was the last amino acid added and has implications for our understanding of early protolife on Earth and the search for life elsewhere, including oceans on Enceladus.

via Yahoo|
#amino-acids#enceladus#genetic-code
One Molecule, One Myth: Debunking Space’s Raspberry Flavor Narrative
science1 month ago

One Molecule, One Myth: Debunking Space’s Raspberry Flavor Narrative

A 2009 detection of ethyl formate in Sagittarius B2 helped fuel the popular claim that space tastes like raspberries; however, ethyl formate is only one of many molecules in a vast, tenuous cloud, and the larger, more significant finding was the identification of n-propyl cyanide, showing complex organics can form in interstellar space. The raspberry framing is an oversimplification: the cloud’s chemistry does not equate to a space flavor, and space does not smell like raspberries—astronauts describe spaceflight smells as metallic. The broader takeaway is that complex organic chemistry, potentially related to prebiotic processes, can begin in interstellar environments long before planets form, though unambiguous amino acids have yet to be detected in space.

via Space Daily|
#astrochemistry#ethyl-formate#interstellar-medium
Glycine Detected in Comet 67P, Boosting Prebiotic Chemistry Theories
space1 month ago

Glycine Detected in Comet 67P, Boosting Prebiotic Chemistry Theories

Rosetta’s ROSINA instrument measured the gas around Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and found glycine—the simplest amino acid—along with phosphorus and precursors like methylamine and ethylamine, in what researchers called an unambiguous detection. The description of a “smell” (rotten eggs, ammonia, bitter almonds) reflects a mass-spectrometry readout rather than an actual odor. Most of the coma is odorless water, CO2 and CO, but the presence of glycine and its precursors supports the idea that comets could deliver prebiotic chemistry to early Earth, without proving life or Earth’s origin from space; it strengthens a long-standing hypothesis while noting the large gap between molecules and living systems.

via Space Daily|
#amino-acids#comet-67p#glycine
Dragonfly to Titan: A Skybound Quest for Life's Building Blocks
science2 months ago

Dragonfly to Titan: A Skybound Quest for Life's Building Blocks

NASA's Dragonfly mission, an eight-rotor aerial explorer, is set for launch around 2028 to Saturn's moon Titan. It will fly through Titan's thick, hazy atmosphere to survey equatorial dune fields using a built-in chemistry lab (DraMS) and a 40‑cup sample carousel, analyzing organic material for prebiotic chemistry and life's building blocks such as amino acids, nucleobases, and fatty acids over a three‑year primary mission. Dragonfly's mobility—flying across miles instead of roving—will let it cover a large area, though Titan's lakes are off‑limits. The journey to Titan will take about seven years and the mission costs about $3.35 billion.

via Yahoo|
#dragonfly#drams#nasa
Dragonfly aims to map Titan’s chemistry from the skies
space2 months ago

Dragonfly aims to map Titan’s chemistry from the skies

NASA’s Dragonfly is an eight-rotor rotorcraft mission planned to launch by 2028 to Titan. It will fly across Titan’s thick atmosphere and dunes, powered by its helicopters and carrying a DraMS mass spectrometer, a sample carousel, ovens, and a laser to study organic material and prebiotic chemistry. The mission, about a seven-year journey to reach Titan, emphasizes mobility over wheels (unlike planetary rovers) and will not sample Titan’s liquid lakes, instead targeting land-based organics to understand how complex molecules could form.

via Mashable|
#astrochemistry#dragonfly#nasa
Curiosity Uncovers Martian Building Blocks for Life in Landmark Experiment
science2 months ago

Curiosity Uncovers Martian Building Blocks for Life in Landmark Experiment

NASA's Curiosity rover, in a 2020 experiment using a TMAH chemical probe on the Mary Anning 3 rock in Gale crater, detected more than 20 organic molecules—including benzothiophene—showing preserved prebiotic chemistry on Mars. While not proof of past life, the findings suggest Mars had conditions favorable to life's building blocks billions of years ago. Scientists also note that returning Martian rocks to Earth could help confirm any signs of life, though the Mars Sample Return mission has been effectively canceled; future missions, including ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover planned for a late-2028 launch, will continue to drill deeper and search for organics on the red planet.

via ScienceAlert|
#curiosity#mars#mary-anning-3
Lab recreates ancient hot-spring networks, yielding protocells
science2 months ago

Lab recreates ancient hot-spring networks, yielding protocells

Researchers built a 3D-printed, networked system of hot-spring pools controlled by an Arduino; through repeated wet-dry cycling, the setup produced lipid vesicles that encapsulated RNA, forming crude protocells and advancing a more realistic model of how life’s building blocks may have formed in Earth’s early hydrothermal fields.

via Indian Defence Review|
#hot-springs#origin-of-life#prebiotic-chemistry
Ryugu's Dust Carries All Nucleobases, Hinting at Cosmic Origins of Life
science3 months ago

Ryugu's Dust Carries All Nucleobases, Hinting at Cosmic Origins of Life

Analysis of Ryugu samples from JAXA’s Hayabusa2 mission finds all five nucleobases—uracil, adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine—the DNA/RNA building blocks, suggesting primitive asteroids can form and preserve prebiotic molecules and potentially deliver them to Earth, though this does not imply life existed on Ryugu; similar organics were found in Bennu samples, underscoring the ubiquity of these building blocks in the solar system.

via Futurism|
#astrobiology#nucleobases#prebiotic-chemistry
Asteroids Harbor All Five Nucleobases, Advancing Space Chemistry Clues to Life’s Origins
science3 months ago

Asteroids Harbor All Five Nucleobases, Advancing Space Chemistry Clues to Life’s Origins

New high-sensitivity analyses of asteroid samples confirm all five nucleobases (A, C, G, T, U) in Ryugu, adding to prior Bennu detections and resolving earlier Ryugu results. The finding reinforces the idea that space-based chemistry can produce nucleotides and informs potential prebiotic pathways, though it does not imply life, and contamination concerns are addressed. The study also notes a correlation between purine/pyrimidine levels and ammonia across asteroids, offering clues about the reactions that could occur in space and feed theories on how Earth's life's building blocks arrived.

via Ars Technica|
#asteroids#nucleobases#origins-of-life
DNA’s five letters detected on asteroid Ryugu, hinting at universal prebiotic chemistry
science3 months ago

DNA’s five letters detected on asteroid Ryugu, hinting at universal prebiotic chemistry

Analysis of asteroid Ryugu samples from JAXA’s Hayabusa2 mission revealed a complete set of canonical nucleobases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, uracil), suggesting carbonaceous asteroids can carry DNA/RNA building blocks and may contribute to prebiotic chemistry across the solar system; findings align with previous Bennu results and meteorites, though they do not indicate life on Ryugu.

via Yahoo|
#carbonaceous-asteroids#hayabusa2#nucleobases
Origins Reimagined: Life May Have Begun in a Primordial Gel
science4 months ago

Origins Reimagined: Life May Have Begun in a Primordial Gel

Researchers propose that life began in prebiotic gels—soft, structured matrices on early Earth that fostered chemical evolution toward protocells, via either phase separation or proto-films, within a protective, biofilm-like environment that shielded and shared resources. This gel-first view broadens the search for alien life to gel-based structures and challenges the traditional cell-first narrative.

via Indian Defence Review|
#abiogenesis#biofilms#early-earth