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Researchers detect all building blocks of DNA and RNA in samples returned from asteroid Bennu
Japanese collaborators detected all five nucleobases — building blocks of DNA and RNA — in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.
Asteroids, small airless bodies within the inner Solar System, are theorized to have contributed water and chemical building blocks of life to Earth billions of years ago. In addition to the five nitrogenous bases—adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil—required for building DNA and RNA, the researchers also found xanthine, hypoxanthine, and nicotinic acid (vitamin B 3). The research team observed that the ratio of purines (adenine and guanine) to pyrimidines (cytosine, thymine and uracil) was much lower in the Bennu samples compared to both Murchison and Orgueil.
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