"The new work was less notable for showing that we had found these bases in Ryugu than for solving a previous mystery: earlier studies had failed to detect them there, despite their presence in many other asteroid samples."
"Understanding that better may be critical for getting a better picture of how the raw materials for life ended up on Earth in the first place."
"What gives nucleic acids the identity needed to carry genetic information are the bases. There are four (A, T, C, and G in DNA; A, U, C, and G in RNA), and one is always attached to each of the sugars in the backbone."
A recent paper confirmed the presence of all four DNA bases on the asteroid Ryugu, building on findings from 2011. Previous studies had failed to detect these bases in Ryugu, despite their presence in other asteroid samples. This discovery may help answer how these bases arrived on Earth, shedding light on the origins of life's raw materials. The structure of DNA and RNA includes a backbone of sugars and phosphates, with bases that carry genetic information, crucial for understanding pre-life chemical processes.
Read at Ars Technica
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