2019/11/18 by Yoshihiro Furukawa, Yoshito Chikaraishi, Naohiko Ohkouchi +5 · 6 citations
Physics and Astronomy · Chemistry · #Origins and Evolution of Life #Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications #Astro and Planetary Science
paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.1907169116
openalex publication_date 2019/11/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
) of the detected sugars show that the sugars are of extraterrestrial origin. We also conducted a laboratory simulation experiment of a potential sugar formation reaction in space. The compositions of pentoses in meteorites and the composition of the products of the laboratory simulation suggest that meteoritic sugars were formed by formose-like processes. The mineral compositions of these meteorites further suggest the formation of these sugars both before and after the accretion of their parent asteroids. Meteorites were carriers of prebiotic organic molecules to the early Earth; thus, the detection of extraterrestrial sugars in meteorites establishes the existence of natural geological routes to make and preserve them as well as raising the possibility that extraterrestrial sugars contributed to forming functional biopolymers like RNA on the early Earth or other primitive worlds.