The building blocks of DNA and RNA, essential precursors to life as we know it, have been discovered in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by Nasa’s Osiris-REx mission.
In September 2023, Nasa successfully landed a capsule back on Earth containing a 121g sample of rocks and dust collected from Bennu. The sample was originally collected some three years prior by Osiris-REx after undergoing a two-year journey to intercept the asteroid en route out of the Solar System.
Some theories suggest that asteroids could have contributed to the accumulation of the water and chemical building blocks of life to Earth billions of years ago.
An international team of scientists analysing the Osiris-REx sample reported the discovery of ammonia- and nitrogen-rich soluble organic matter which includes all five nucleobases necessary for the formation of DNA and RNA in addition to xanthine, hypoxanthine and nicotinic acid (vitamin B3).
The Bennu samples were handled under nitrogen to prevent contamination by...