Asteroid Loaded with Amino Acids Offers New Clues About the Origin of Life on Earth
The theory that life on Earth began with molecules delivered from space gains support from recent findings on asteroid Bennu. Samples from Bennu, a primitive asteroid largely unchanged since the solar system’s formation 4.6 billion years ago, contain 14 amino acids and five nucleobases, essential building blocks of proteins and genetic material. Notably, traces of tryptophan, an amino acid never definitively found in extraterrestrial material before, were also tentatively detected. These discoveries confirm that both protein components and genetic blueprints coexist in the same extraterrestrial source, reinforcing the idea that life’s origins may be linked to cosmic deliveries.