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Home Astronomy & Space Space Exploration December 14, 2016

Carbonaceous chondrites shed light on the origins of life in the universe

December 14, 2016, Spanish National Research Council

A Spanish-Italian team led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has
discovered that one type of meteorite known as carbonaceous chondrites are capable of
synthesising organic compounds which are key to prebiotic chemistry. Such catalysing
properties are unknown in other rocks on Earth and in other planetary bodies in the
Solar System. This type of meteorite may well have played a vital role in the origins of
life in the universe.

The results of the study have been

published in the magazine Scientific
Reports.

The meteorite samples analysed in this

study come from NASA's Antarctic
collection and derive from asteroids and,
possibly, from comets. "Chondrites are
non-differentiated meteorites, a legacy
fossil from the creation of planetesimals.
These provide us not only with
information about the processes of Featured Last comments Popular
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interiors shortly after their formation",
explains CSIC scientific investigator at the Institute of Space Science and at Catalonia's
Institute of Space Science, Josep María Trigo, the study's codirector.
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asteroids which were progenitors of certain carbonaceous chondrites around 50 million

years before the Earth was formed. These processes encouraged the synthesis of
complex organic molecules in those asteroids which, upon reaching other planets, would Scientists simulate a black hole in a water
have fertilised their surfaces with these prebiotic compounds. tank 14 hours ago 0

"Commonly, the abrupt arrival of these meteorites causes their fragmentation and, due to
the high temperatures involved, the degradation of organic compounds. For that reason,
we decided to develop experiments which were capable of synthesising organic material Six new species of hideously adorable
originating from chondrite minerals, once they had reached the ground though not tentacle-nosed catfish discovered in
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necessarily with any surviving primordial organic compounds", adds Trigo.

During the experiments, which took place at the University of Tuscany in Italy, the
New physical effect demonstrated after 40
samples which came from NASA's Johnson Space Centre were crushed in a mortar, year search Feb 06, 2019 1
treated to eliminate all traces of organic material, and placed with formamide and both
thermal and sea water at 140 °C. These waters had previously been filtered to avoid the
presence of, or contamination from, any type of living organism.
more »

"It is fascinating to see that chondrites possess unique properties which, in a relatively
short period, allow their complex organic compound contents to reproduce if they are
treated with an aqueous solution containing formamide.
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origins of organic material in the Universe. These phases of hydration possibly marked friends like.
the early stages of asteroids and comets", explains CSIC researcher Carles E. Moyano,
from Spain's Institute of Space Science.

Implications for the emergence of life on other planets.

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The results of these experiments signal that these meteorites possess catalytic
properties for organic compounds which are not present in terrestrial rocks. The minerals email Subscribe

which form carbonaceous chondrites are capable of synthesising carboxylic acids,

amino acids and all the nitrogenous bases which form ribonucleic acid (ARN),

https://phys.org/news/2016-12-carbonaceous-chondrites-life-universe.html 2/8/19, 8B46 AM

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 considered to be the precursor of the first living organism. Relevant PhysicsForums posts

"The data obtained indicates that, even if chondrites were pulverised and lost their
organic compounds during the phases of deceleration and ablation in the atmosphere, How hard is it to track moon cycles 5 hours ago

those minerals which reached the Earth's surface and were heated in the presence of
both water and formamide would be able to reproduce the organic compounds Dark matter and spacetime metric 7 hours ago

fundamental to prebiotic chemistry. This clearly points to life being fertilised from outside
Any new news from Parker? 12 hours ago
Earth's atmosphere- life which could reach any part of our Solar System and, for that
matter, of the Universe wherever conditions were conducive to maintaining liquid water Space Stuff and Launch Info Feb 06, 2019
for a reasonable length of time. Mars, Europa and Titan could possibly be excellent
candidates for our exploration" indicates Trigo. About the current rover mission Feb 06, 2019

Explore further: Meteorites: Tool kits for creating life on Earth The unusual motion of stars in galaxies Feb 06, 2019

More from Astronomy and Astrophysics

More information: Luca Rotelli et al, The key role of meteorites in the formation of
relevant prebiotic molecules in a formamide/water environment, Scientific Reports
(2016). DOI: 10.1038/srep38888

Journal reference: Scientific Reports 12 shares

Provided by: Spanish National Research Council feedback to editors

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