Science & technology

Sugar Molecule Found in Space for the First Time

Is erythrulose the key to how life arose on Earth or the ultimate unlock for origin-of-life research?

Published 2 hours ago

Sugar Molecule Found in Space for the First Time

Story

Above: Messier 78 and Barnard's Loop, glowing nebulae and dark clouds in the Milky Way's Orion region. Image credit: Alan Dyer/VWPics/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

The Spin

Narrative A

Finding erythrulose in interstellar space is a massive deal for understanding how life began on Earth. During the Late Heavy Bombardment around 4 billion years ago, up to 50 million tons of this sugar could've rained down on Earth, delivering ready-made building blocks before life even had a chance to form. Space, not Earth, may have been the original sugar factory.

BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Narrative B

Erythrulose is a key to unlocking origin-of-life research because it converts into threose, a precursor to the first nucleic acids that became RNA and DNA. Finding a true four-carbon sugar in interstellar space proves life's ingredients form freely across the galaxy, not just on Earth. The next big prize is spotting an actual RNA building block in deep space.

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