The study of three meteorites so far has shown that through these chemicals came to Earth, which were necessary for the development of human life. Scientists had previously learned that three of the five chemicals required for the formation of DNA were present in these meteorites. Along with this, the necessary genetic instructions for organisms and RNA i.e. those substances which are necessary for the activities of genes, were found in these meteorites. Now the researchers have said that now they have also found the last two chemicals.
This time, to investigate meteorites, scientists adopted a different method than before. This time he was more sensitive and avoided using very strong acids or hot liquids. Astrochemist Yasuhiro Oba of Hokkaido University, Japan, says that great care was taken to extract these five elements called nucleobasis. Nucleobasis is a nitrogenous compound that is required to form the structure of DNA.
Yasuhiro Oba is the lead researcher of this study.
The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. Co-author of the research Danny Glavin, who works at NASA’s Gadard Flight Center, says that such nucleobases came from outer space, which were necessary for the beginning of life – confirmation of this is the rendering of the theory that the elements necessary for life had come from outside. Scientists are constantly striving for a better understanding of how life began on Earth. That is, what were the events that led to the chemical reactions that started life and created living microbes that could reproduce. The creation of DNA and RNA was an important step in that process, as they direct the physiological activities of organisms.
Glavin explains, ‘There is still much to learn about the chemical steps that led to the beginning of life on Earth. This research adds elements to that list of chemical compounds that may have been present in the early times of the Earth, that is, before the existence of life.
Researchers have studied three different meteorites. One fell in 1950 in Murray in the US state of Kentucky.
The second fell in 1969 in the town of Murchison in the state of Victoria, Australia. And the third one fell in the year 2000 in the Canadian state of British Columbia. These three are called Cabernesian chondrites. These are made of material that is believed to have formed in the early stages of the formation of the Solar System. Glavin says, ‘The mixture of organic molecules in all three meteorites is very complex.
Most of them are yet to be identified. Earth is believed to have formed 4.5 billion years ago. During his childhood, meteorites, comets and other bodies used to rain on the earth. Life here began as microbes, which were born in the sea. Their age is estimated at 3.5 billion years, which is the first sign of life on Earth. Regarding the new discovery, Oba says, ‘These results may not provide any direct information about the origin of life on Earth, but I believe that they are due to organic molecules that existed on Earth before the beginning of life. can increase our understanding about