RNA's ancient roots: Life's building blocks may have come from space
Scientists recently demonstrated that RNA, a key molecule for life, could have formed naturally on early Earth over four billion years ago.
By mixing simple ingredients like sugars and minerals under conditions similar to ancient water sources, researchers in Japan managed to create the basic parts of RNA in the lab.
Asteroids delivered life's starter kit
Backing up this idea, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission found ribose (an important sugar for RNA) in samples from asteroid Bennu.
Researchers think a massive space rock hitting Earth billions of years ago might have dropped these crucial ingredients here—matching evidence from super-old crystals that show life could've started early.
Why does it matter?
This study hints that life's essential pieces can form pretty quickly and might even be common across the universe.
It opens up new ways to explore how life began—not just on Earth, but maybe on other planets too.