Asteroid’s Shocking Secret: NASA Finds ‘Building Blocks of Life’

NASA scientists say asteroid Bennu, a 1,600-foot-wide rock that’s been orbiting near Earth for billions of years, is loaded with complex organic materials — including sugars essential to life.

Researchers confirmed that ribose and glucose, two fundamental sugars that make up DNA and RNA, were found in samples retrieved by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission in 2020. The finding was announced Dec. 2 in Nature Geosciencesand Nature Astronomy — and scientists are calling it one of the most significant cosmic discoveries of the decade.

“This is the first time ribose has ever been found in a space rock,” said Dr. Yoshihiro Furukawa of Tohoku University in Japan. “Ribose is essential for RNA, which plays a key role in the origin of life. Bennu appears to have all the ingredients needed to form it.”

Furukawa’s team also noted that all five nucleobases that make up genetic code — along with phosphates — were previously identified in Bennu’s dust. “The new discovery means every known component of RNA is present on Bennu,” he added.

Adding to the intrigue, NASA scientists also found a sticky, gum-like material never before seen in meteorites or asteroids. The substance, rich in oxygen and nitrogen, may have acted as a molecular glue, helping bind other compounds together — possibly forming primitive life structures billions of years ago.

“This could be the glue that brought life’s molecules together,” said a researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center, which led the Nature Astronomy study.

Under microscopes, the strange “space gum” appeared as glossy clusters clinging to mineral grains — unlike anything seen in previous asteroid missions.

While Bennu itself doesn’t harbor life, the implications are profound. If these ingredients are common on ancient rocks drifting through space, then life’s recipe could exist throughout the galaxy.

“The discovery suggests that the building blocks of life are not unique to Earth,” said Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb.“The universe may be teeming with life in places that mirror the early conditions of our own solar system.”

Bennu, first discovered in 1999, made headlines in 2016 when NASA launched the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to retrieve samples from its surface. Those particles returned to Earth in 2023 and have since been under intense analysis in laboratories across Japan and the United States.

For many scientists, the discovery blurs the line between astronomy and biology — suggesting that the story of life on Earth may have begun in the stars.

“Finding ribose, glucose, and this unknown space material together is like discovering a cosmic bakery,” said one NASA scientist jokingly. “The ingredients are all there. Now the question is — who or what did the baking?”

---

Sources:
Nature Geosciences, Nature Astronomy, NASA, The New York Post, Harvard University.