Asteroid Bennu yields sugars and polymer key to life’s origins

Scientists have examined pristine rock dust brought from the asteroid Bennu, which has never been exposed to Earth's atmosphere. The results are astonishing: they discovered sugars essential for the origin of life.

Alongside ribose, a sugar that forms part of RNA—the molecule thought to carry genetic information and form the basis of early life—scientists also detected glucose, a primary fuel for modern life, on an asteroid for the first time. NASA experts suggest that these building blocks for life were present throughout the early solar system, meaning the seeds of life could exist even on icy moons of Mars or Jupiter.

Bennu delivered more than just sugars. Researchers discovered a strange, polymer-like substance they nicknamed "space gum," never before seen on any space rock. This material could represent an ancient chemical that helped lay the groundwork for life on Earth. Additionally, Bennu contains six times more dust from dead stars than other asteroids.

These tiny asteroid samples allow scientists to look at the "very beginning of beginnings" and guide humanity in solving one of the universe's greatest mysteries.