Key molecule for life may have formed on interstellar ice

A key molecule for life may have formed within the chilly, far-reaches of area, alongside budding stars and planets.

Amino acids are the constructing blocks of proteins, making them very important for life on Earth. Some scientists suspect that they may have been transported to our planet by meteorites or asteroids. In truth, just a few natural molecules, corresponding to carbonic acid, have been noticed floating round in area over the previous few a long time. But how precisely these molecules formed is unclear.

Now, Ralf Kaiser on the University of Hawaii at Manoa and his colleagues have discovered a key amino acid, known as carbamic acid, may very well be created through reactions on clumps of ice in deep area.

Carbamic acid is an easy amino acid that may be a precursor to extra advanced compounds discovered naturally in numerous enzymes.

To discover if carbamic acid may type within the extraordinarily chilly circumstances of area, the group positioned the reactants that type carbamic acid – carbon dioxide and ammonia – right into a fridge that may go down to five kelvin (-268°C).

The researchers then slowly elevated the temperature and located that at 62 Ok, carbon dioxide and ammonia reacted to type carbamic acid. They additionally discovered that ammonium carbamate – a salt that aids in processing the compound urea, the foremost part of urine – was created at 39 Ok, including credence to the concept life’s constructing blocks may have come to Earth from area.

These circumstances are much like those seen in molecular clouds round younger stars and planets, says Kaiser, making it doable that carbamic acid and ammonium carbamate first emerged on ice in these areas.

“Eventually, they can be incorporated in meteorites or asteroids, which would take these compounds into our solar system or other solar systems,” he says.

The group hopes that the findings will assist astronomers look for these amino acids in area, which could be performed utilizing devices such because the James Webb Space Telescope.

“By finding out where these molecular precursors are and under which conditions they can be formed, we can predict where life could be or could have been formed,” says Kaiser.