New research out of the University of York suggests that molecules brought to earth in meteorite strikes could be converted into the building blocks of DNA.
In research published earlier this month in Chemical Communications, York scientists found that amino nitriles, the molecular precursors to amino acids, were able to use molecules present in interstellar ice to trigger the formation of 2-deoxy-D-ribose, an important component of DNA.
"The origin of important biological molecules is one of the key fundamental questions in science. The molecules that form the building blocks of DNA had to come from somewhere; either they were present on Earth when it formed or they came from space, hitting earth in a meteor shower,” explains Paul Clarke, from the University of York's department of chemistry.
"Scientists had already shown that there were particular molecules present in space that came to Earth in an ice comet; this made our team at York think about investigating whether they could be used to make one of the building blocks of DNA. If this was possible, then it could mean that a building block of DNA was present before amino acids."
The research team showed that amino nitriles could have been the catalyst for bringing together the interstellar molecules, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, glycolaldehyde, before life on Earth began. Combined, these molecules produce carbohydrates, including 2-deoxy-D-ribose, the building blocks of DNA.
Image. DNA strands in circle. Image from Alhovik/Dreamstime.com