NASA scientists have analyzed samples collected from the asteroid Bennu during the OSIRIS-REx mission and found in them organic compounds that play an important role in the origin of life. In particular, fundamental elements necessary for protein synthesis and the formation of DNA were found.
NASA experts have confirmed that samples returned from the asteroid Bennu contain 14 of the 20 amino acids used by living organisms on Earth, as well as traces of ammonia and formaldehyde. These compounds may have been involved in complex chemical reactions that preceded the emergence of life in the early solar system.
“The evidence we're looking for is so small and so easily destroyed or altered by Earth's environment,“ said Danny Glavin, a senior research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
In addition, experts have found minerals that indicate the possible presence of water. This supports the hypothesis that asteroids like Bennu may have been a source of important organic compounds that reached Earth billions of years ago.