Mikko Tuomi

All the essential ingredients to kick-start #life as we know it have now been found in samples from the #asteroid #Bennu.

Asteroids could have delivered all the prerequisites for life to Earth – and perhaps elsewhere.

In 2020, OSIRIS-REx mission extracted samples from Bennu, an asteroid that was orbiting the #sun between Mars and Jupiter, and returned the samples to Earth in 2023.

Since then, small amounts of the 121 grams collected have been sent out to labs across the globe for analysis, so specialists in detecting each type of biological compound could set to work.

The first studies revealed the presence of #water, #carbon and several organic molecules. Next came the detection of amino acids, formaldehyde and all five of the nucleobases found in #RNA and #DNA, as well as phosphates.

However, this isn’t quite enough to put together the molecules that carry genetic information.

Now, scientists have revealed the presence of #ribose, as well as other sugars, including lyxose, xylose, arabinose, glucose and galactose.

#astrobiology
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2506650-asteroid-bennu-carries-all-the-ingredients-for-life-as-we-know-it/

Paper by Furukawa et al. (2025): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01838-6

Asteroid Bennu carries all the ingredients for life as we know it

We knew from prior analyses that a distant asteroid sampled in 2020 carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life, and researchers have just found the missing ingredient: sugar

New Scientist
Dec 8 at 7:44amWeb
Show threadMartin Vermeer FCDDec 8

@mustapipa

> Asteroids could have delivered all the prerequisites for life to Earth – and perhaps elsewhere.

I would draw a slightly different lesson: these substances are formed really easily wherever the right circumstances arise - although we have known that, sort-of, since Miller-Urey. Import from space seems to me to be a less obvious mechanism, especially at scale.

Show threadMikko TuomiDec 8
@martinvermeer Yes. These substances really form everywhere, in abundance. That would be the lesson to learn.
Show threadOlm-eDec 14

@mustapipa 5My from now, the Bennu asteroid has escaped the Solar influence thanks to the small push the OSIRIS-REx mission has given to it's trajectory

15MY from now, the Bennu asteroid enter a new star system
16MY from now, it crashes on a planet
that has some nice primitive soup atmosphere ... soon after some process began
1By from now, multicellular life has evolved
3By from now, some sentient people are wondering where they come from ...