Ribose found in meteorites

Complex sugars found in extraterrestrial bodies support the theory of external sources of organic matter, necessary for the birth of life millions of years ago.

Experts from Tohoku University and NASA have found complex sugars in the chondrites that fell to the Earth, including ribose, one of the most important structural elements in RNA molecules. The article on the discovery was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Chondrites are the most common types of meteorites formed in the early Universe. They are distinguished by their matter structure: there are chondrons - granules that consist mostly of silicates  - in the crystal matrix. Chondrites make up over 90% of the meteorites that fall on the Earth.

Scientists have detected trace amounts of penta and hexosugars when they analyzed the composition of meteorites that fell in Australia, Africa and Antarctica over the past half-century. Ribose was also found along with other sugars. 

Thanks to radiocarbon analysis, researchers have determined that the carbon in the sugar is of outer space origin. Such findings suggest external sources of organic matter necessary for the birth of life millions of years ago.