A scientist at the University of Missouri-Columbia believes life on earth may have originated in space dust. The theory centers on adenine, a key ingredient in life on earth. You've probably heard that DNA is made up of base pairs represented by the letters A, C, T and G? Adenine is the A.
Rainer Glaser, a chemistry professor in MU's College of Arts and Science, used a model to come up with his theory that adenine exists in space dust. He suggests that space dust adenine could have been the genesis for life on other planets as well -- follow the adenine and we might find extraterrestrial life.
In an MU press release, he seems to anticipate some resistence to his theory:
He published his research in the peer-reviewed journal Astrobiology, and the paper is discussed in the Aug. 6 issue of Chemical & Engineering News.
Read Brandon's earlier post on space dust and its gambling shenanigans here.
I couldn't find the press release online, so here's the whole thing for ya:
MU Researcher Presents Origin-Of-Life Theory for Young Earth
Presence of Essential Molecule in Space Could Support Life on Other
Planets
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Some of the elements necessary to support life on Earth
are widely known - oxygen, carbon and water, to name a few. Just as
important in the existence of life as any other component is the
presence of adenine, an essential organic molecule. Without it, the
basic building blocks of life would not come together. Scientists have
been trying to find the origin of Earth's adenine and where else it
might exist in the solar system. University of Missouri-Columbia
researcher Rainer Glaser may have the answer.
Life exists on Earth because of a delicate combination of chemical
ingredients. Using a theoretical model, Glaser is hypothesizing the
existence of adenine in interstellar dust clouds. Those same clouds may
have showered young Earth with adenine as it began cooling billions of
years ago, and could potentially hold the key for initiating a similar
process on another planet.
"The idea that certain molecules came from space is not outrageous,"
said Glaser, professor of chemistry in MU's College of Arts and Science.
"You can find large molecules in meteorites, including adenine. We know
that adenine can be made elsewhere in the solar system, so why should
one consider it impossible to make the building blocks somewhere in
interstellar dust?"
This theory describing the fusion of early life-forming chemicals is
presented in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal
"Astrobiology" and is co-authored by Brian Hodgen (Creighton
University), Dean Farrelly (University of Manchester) and Elliot McKee
(St. Louis University). The paper, "Adenine Synthesis in Interstellar
Space: Mechanisms of Prebiotic Pyrimidine-Ring Formation of Monocyclic
HCN-Pentamers," describes the absence of a sizeable barrier that would
prevent formation of the skeleton needed for adenine synthesis. The
article is also featured in the Aug. 6 issue of "Chemical & Engineering
News."
Glaser believes astronomers should look for interstellar dust clouds
that have highly-concentrated hydrogen cyanide (HCN), which can indicate
the presence of adenine. Finding such pockets would narrow the spectrum
of where life could exist within the Milky Way galaxy.
"There is a lot of sky with a few areas that have dust clouds. In those
dust clouds, a few of them have HCN. A few of those have enough HCN to
support the synthesis of the molecules of life. Now, we have to look for
the HCN concentrations, and that's where you want to look for adenine,"
Glaser said. "Chemistry in space and 'normal chemistry' can be very
different because the concentrations and energy-exchange processes are
different. These features make the study of chemistry in space very
exciting and academically challenging; one really must think without
prejudice."
