Nov 21, 2024 · The mystery of why life uses molecules with specific orientations has deepened with a NASA-funded discovery that RNA — a key molecule thought to have potentially held the instructions for life before DNA emerged — can favor making the building blocks of proteins in either the left-hand or the right-hand orientation.

Jan 30, 2025 · The study, “Searching for Possible Ancestors of RNA: The Self-Assembly Hypothesis for the Origin of Proto-RNA,” was published in the journal Prebiotic Chemistry and Chemical Evolution of Nucleic Acids.

Apr 26, 2022 · The discovery, by an international team with NASA researchers, gives more evidence that chemical reactions in asteroids can make some of life’s ingredients, which could have been delivered to ancient Earth by meteorite impacts or perhaps the infall of dust.

3 days ago · One popular hypothesis for the origin of life suggests that the nucleic acid, RNA, performed two important roles: RNA stored genetic information and also catalyzed the chemical reactions that helped get life started.

Jan 30, 2025 · New research shows that RNA and DNA could have originated simultaneously, raising new questions about the RNA World hypothesis. A new study supported in part by the Exobiology Program provides experimental evidence that could have originated simultaneously and co-existed on the early Earth.

Sep 12, 2024 · GeneLab’s Sample Processing Lab has generated 13 new RNA-sequencing datasets from spaceflight and spaceflight relevant ground studies. These datasets were generated with a consistent processing pipeline that was vetted by the GeneLab Analysis Working Groups.

Jan 29, 2025 · Scientists detected all five nucleobases -- building blocks of DNA and RNA -- in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. ... NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission returned 121.6 ...

Nov 25, 2024 · New research published in Nature Communications by scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center sheds light on this fundamental question. The study suggests that the earliest life on Earth might have taken a different shape, with the outcome essentially being a chemical coin toss.

4 days ago · NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission delivered samples from asteroid Bennu, revealing crucial molecules linked to life, including amino acids and nucleobases found in DNA and RNA. The presence of ammonia and formaldehyde suggests conditions ripe for forming complex molecules in space. Scientists also discov

Jan 29, 2025 · Scientists studying the Bennu samples have discovered evidence of a wet, salty environment from 4.5 billion years ago that created the molecular building blocks of life. Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Universal Production Music: “Future Tense” by Gresby Race Nash [PRS]; “Take Off” by Nicholas Smith [PRS]; “Big Decision” by Gresby ...