2008/03/21 by Zita Martins, Oliver Botta, Marilyn L. Fogel +8 · 3 citations
Environmental Science · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Chemical Analysis and Environmental Impact #Enzyme Structure and Function #Origins and Evolution of Life #physics.bio-ph #physics.space-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.03.026
published as Earth and Planetary Science Letters 270, 130-136. 15 June 2008 · 31 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables
openalex publication_date 2008/03/21 · arxiv created 2008/06/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Carbon-rich meteorites, carbonaceous chondrites, contain many biologically relevant organic molecules and delivered prebiotic material to the young Earth. We present compound-specific carbon isotope data indicating that measured purine and pyrimidine compounds are indigenous components of the Murchison meteorite. Carbon isotope ratios for uracil and xanthine of delta13C=+44.5per mil and +37.7per mil, respectively, indicate a non-terrestrial origin for these compounds. These new results demonstrate that organic compounds, which are components of the genetic code in modern biochemistry, were already present in the early solar system and may have played a key role in life's origin.