First look at Ryugu asteroid sample reveals it is organic-rich

Asteroid Ryugu has a rich complement of organic molecules, according to a NASA and international team's initial analysis of a sample from the asteroid's surface delivered to Earth by Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft. The discovery ...

Hydrogen bonds directly detected for the first time

For the first time, scientists have succeeded in studying the strength of hydrogen bonds in a single molecule using an atomic force microscope. Researchers from the University of Basel's Swiss Nanoscience Institute network ...

DNA is only one among millions of possible genetic molecules

Biology encodes information in DNA and RNA, which are complex molecules finely tuned to their functions. But are they the only way to store hereditary molecular information? Some scientists believe life as we know it could ...

New evidence that comets could have seeded life on Earth

(Phys.org) —It's among the most ancient of questions: What are the origins of life on Earth? A new experiment simulating conditions in deep space reveals that the complex building blocks of life could have been created ...

Scientists say the 'R' in RNA may be abundant in space

New research suggests that the sugar ribose - the "R" in RNA - is probably found in comets and asteroids that zip through the solar system and may be more abundant throughout the universe than was previously thought.

The origin of life: A paradigm shift

According to a new concept by LMU chemists led by Thomas Carell, it was a novel molecular species composed out of RNA and peptides that set in motion the evolution of life into more complex forms.

How RNA formed at the origins of life

A single process for how a group of molecules called nucleotides were made on the early Earth, before life began, has been suggested by a UCL-led team of researchers.

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