Politics

Bennu, the asteroid that explains the origin of life

Almost sorty in our media, On January 29 NASA announced that the analysis of the samples from the Asteroid Bennu, collected in 2020 during the Osiris-Rex mission therefore transported to Earth three years later, were analyzed with different methodologies and led to the identification of amino acids and the so -called “known nitrogen bases”, or of fundamental components of DNA and RNA. These are the adenine (a) and the Guanina (G), the cytosine (c), the Timina (T) and the uracile (U). Adenine, Guanina, Uracile and some amino acids were found on the samples, considered essential for the synthesis of protein and nucleic acids. It means that the chemical reactions that take place on asteroids may have provided our planet what was needed to originate life. This does not show that there is another life in the cosmos, but it certainly leads to think that asteroids play a fundamental role in the birth of life.

The second demonstration of this discovery is that these compounds can form in extraterrestrial environments and preserve themselves over time; Finally that Bennu’s rocks contain 14 of the 20 amino acids that allow you to produce proteins on earth. This asteroid is therefore proving to be a mine of information, among this also the fact that the samples taken show abundance of hydrated minerals, as if it had been exposed to an environment in which there was liquid water and that this, in contact with the rocks primordial, has created the ideal conditions for the synthesis of organic molecules. The hypothesis that asteroids, impacting on Earth, may have brought complex organic material and this has contributed to the appearance of the first forms of life, therefore. Anyone wishing to learn more can read the scientific publications from which the article is taken (Abundant Ammoniaand Nitrogen-Rich Solble Organic Matter in Samples from Asteroid (101955) Bennu, NatureStronomy, 2025 and an evapoRite seques from Ancient Brine Recorded in Bennu Samples, Nature, 2025).

It is not the first time that these tracks are found on extraterrestrial rocks, However, it is new to find so many all together on the same asteroid. And among the possible comparisons, there are the equally precious samples collected by the Japanese probe Hayabusa 2 on the Asteroid Ryugu. Now scientists face a more complicated challenge: to understand what the chemical processes have been that have allowed the formation of amino acids, above all because the terrestrial ones almost always have a “left -wing” form and it is not clear why, while on Bennu there is They are also in abundance of “right”. In short, it is necessary to understand the “how” to get to “when and where”. Meanwhile, in space, the Osiris-Apex mission continues towards the Asteroid Apophis, which will be reached by 2029.