this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2026
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Scientists Just Found All 5 Genetic “Letters” of DNA and RNA on an Asteroid (scitechdaily.com)
submitted 5 days ago by Delta_V@lemmy.world to c/space@mander.xyz
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The discovery of all five nucleobases on Ryugu strengthens the idea that life’s molecular ingredients formed in space before reaching Earth.

A new study reports that samples from the asteroid Ryugu contain all five fundamental nucleobases, the molecular “letters” of life.

Tiny asteroid grains can preserve chemical clues about the ingredients that may have helped life emerge on Earth. The Ryugu material was returned from space in 2020 by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 mission.

In 2023, an international research team reported finding uracil, one of the nucleobases, in the Ryugu samples. Now, a study published on March 16, 2026, in Nature Astronomy by Japanese scientists has confirmed that all five nucleobases are present in the pristine asteroid material.

The finding suggests that these life related ingredients may have been common across the young Solar System...

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[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 days ago

Also did biology with evolutionary biology upper division coursework. Part of the reason astrobiology seeks for signs of water is that water is the known common factor of earthbound life.

The portion I remember about extremeophiles also looked at the perched lakes under antarctica. As I remember there IS a degree of mineralization that takes place in those lakes as stromatalite formations by proteobacteria.

Essentially if there's water and any kind of radiation around minerals then the building blocks for life start to appear.

Water+mineral+radiation = Life, maybe? (Maybe divided by time/luck?)