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Carbonaceous meteorites as a source of sugar-related
organic compounds for the early Earth
GEORGE COOPER, NOVELLE KIMMICH, WARREN BELISLE, JOSH SARINANA, KATRINA BRABHAM & LAURENCE GARREL
The Nature, December 2001, 414: 879 - 883.
The much-studied Murchison meteorite is generally used as the standard reference for
organic compounds in extraterrestrial material. Amino acids and other organic compounds
important in contemporary biochemistry are thought to have been delivered to the early
Earth by asteroids and comets, where they may have played a role in the origin of life.
Polyhydroxylated compounds (polyols) such as sugars, sugar alcohols and sugar acids are
vital to all known lifeforms - they are components of nucleic acids (RNA, DNA), cell
membranes and also act as energy sources. But there has hitherto been no conclusive
evidence for the existence of polyols in meteorites, leaving a gap in our understanding of
the origins of biologically important organic compounds on Earth. A
variety of polyols are present in, and indigenous to, the Murchison and Murray meteorites
in amounts comparable to amino acids. Analyses of water extracts indicate that
extraterrestrial processes including photolysis and formaldehyde chemistry could account
for the observed compounds. Polyols were likely present on the
early Earth and therefore at least available for incorporation into the first forms of life.
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