Scientists Found Components of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) in Meteorites

Scientists found components of DNA in meteorites which confirms the theory that some of the materials required to make early life forms came to Earth from space. The study was funded by NASA and was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Scientists used advanced mass spectrometry instruments to scan 11 organic-rich meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites and one ureilite. Ureilite is a very rare meteorite with a different chemical composition. They discovered three nucleobases-purine, 6, 8-diaminopurine and 2, 6-diaminopurine-that are widely distributed in carbonaceous chondrites.

Scientific research done in the past had revealed a range of building blocks of life in meteorites, such as the amino acids that form proteins. This was the first time all but two of these meteorites had been analysed for nucleobases. Finding nucleobase compounds not usually found in Earth’s biochemistry strongly supports an extraterrestrial origin. This shows that meteorites were molecular tool kits, which provided the necessary building blocks for life on Earth.