According to the researchers, who published new findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, some amino acids in the asteroid Bennu samples likely formed in a different way than was previously thought, in the harsh conditions of the early solar system.

Rethinking how space amino acids form

"Our results flip the script on how we have typically thought amino acids formed in asteroids," said Allison Baczynski, assistant research professor of geosciences at Penn State and co-lead author on the paper.

"It now looks like there are many conditions where these building blocks of life can form, not just when there's warm liquid water. Our analysis showed that there's much more diversity in the pathways and conditions in which these amino acids can be formed."

Analyzing a precious bit of space dust no bigger than a teaspoon, the team used custom instruments capable of measuring isotopes, slight variations in the mass of atoms.

In studying Bennu, the researchers focused on glycine, the simplest amino acid, a tiny two‑carbon molecule that serves as one of life's basic building blocks. Amino acids link together to form proteins, which carry out nearly every biological function—from building cells to catalyzing chemical reactions.