NASA: DNA Found on Meteorites Indicates Life May Have Originated in Space

[DonCoquixote]

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/195073/20110809/nasa-dna-meteorites-building-blocks-life-on-earth-from-space.html

This is possibly the real stroy of the century, and it is ignored, not the least by people invested in the creation myths it would shatter.

[Warpy]

1. I find it improbable that DNA would be constructed

in an airless environment where water, when it exists, it hard enough to be metallic. I find it quite probable that life is an artifact of planets and will evolve to exploit any environmental niche that doesn't incinerate it or freeze it immediately.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. They have found all the precursors in deep space though

now DNA in a meteorite, We may have the argument where that came from, but it indicates that life is far more prevalent, and yes, shatter a few creation myths.

[Ninjaneer]

21. Well they may have found nucleobases on meteorites before but this is the first time

earth contamination has been ruled out.

[EOTE]

8. I don't think the article suggests that the DNA was constructed there.

I think, just as you mention in the body of your post, that it suggests that just the building blocks of life arrived from there. And Earth just happened to be hospitable enough to allow it to flourish.

[tridim]

12. That's what the solvent known as water is for.

They didn't find DNA, they found the building blocks.

[Ian David]

2. I don't know if International Business Times is a legit source. n/t

[Maine-ah]

4. can't read the article with out a subscription...

bummer. I really wanted to read it too.

[Ian David]

7. Don't bother. It's crap. n/t

[doublethink]

10. Here's a video on it from NASA .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g7AKVZ3HC4&feature=player_embedded

[Ninjaneer]

13. You can, just stop loading the page (with the x button)

before the subscription page blocks the screen.

[Ninjaneer]

16. Or, you can read it here:

http://www.space.com/12569-meteorites-dna-building-blocks-discovery.html

:)

[Ninjaneer]

17. double post. n/t

[originalpckelly]

19. I don't have a subscription and I could read it.

[frazzled]

3. It would explain ...

some of the "spacier" posts one sees around this board recently. Sometimes I think the posters have come directly from outer space.

[Ian David]

5. International Business Times is completely misreading the facts.

They did not find DNA from space.

They found DNA precursors.

That's like the difference between saying, "We've found protein" and "we've found a piece of steak."

This is really sloppy reporting.

[Ninjaneer]

14. Worded poorly, yes, but they did find "pieces" of DNA.

Regardless, this is an amazing article.

[originalpckelly]

18. It's the difference between find the letter R...

or finding the entire Harry Potter series of books.

It's a big difference.

[Ninjaneer]

20. and the article states that this *may* mean the components of life

originated in outer space. No one is saying anything for certain.

I don't understand people's insistence on downplaying this huge find.

Or maybe I do :eyes:.

Whatever, to each his own.

[Ian David]

22. No, they did not find pieces of DNA. n/t

[Ninjaneer]

24. Alright : ) n/t.

[eppur_se_muova]

26. If you find pieces of brick, does that prove there was once a building there?

These molecules can be made by purely abiotic reactions, which has been known for decades. Finding them in meteorites is interesting, nothing more.

see the first few pages of this article for a review of abiotic nucleobase synthesis: http://physwww.mcmaster.ca/~higgsp/3D03/OrgelRNAWorld.pdf

[trotsky]

15. Steaks come from space?

Fascinating!

[undeterred]

9. Update: DNA belongs to people who touched the meteorite,

who are from Waukesha.

[tridim]

11. I wonder why gawd left this fact out of the Bible?

It's just amazing to me how we're reverse engineering the birth of life.

Just add water, energy and a few organic molecules, and wait. Chemistry makes sure that life will happen. Evolution takes over after the first random cell divides.

[Uncle Joe]

23. Meteorites and probably comets = Sperm cells.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_cells



Sperm cells contribute approximately half of the nuclear genetic information to the diploid offspring. In mammals, the sex of the offspring is determined by the sperm cell: a spermatozoon bearing a Y-chromosome will lead to a male (XY) offspring, while one bearing an X-chromosome will lead to a female (XX) offspring (the ovum always provides an X-chromosome). Sperm cells were first observed by Anton van Leeuwenhoek in 1677.<1>

Genetic information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene

A gene is a unit of heredity in a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living things depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains. Genes hold the information to build and maintain an organism's cells and pass genetic traits to offspring, although some organelles (e.g. mitochondria) are self-replicating and are not coded for by the organism's DNA. All organisms have many genes corresponding to various different biological traits, some of which are immediately visible, such as eye color or number of limbs, and some of which are not, such as blood type or increased risk for specific diseases, or the thousands of basic biochemical processes that comprise life.

Thanks for the thread, DonCoquixote.

[eppur_se_muova]

25. Correction: DNA was NOT found on meteorites. Read the first para.

The simple building blocks of nucleic acids were found on meteorites.

Sorry, this does not contradict any previous theory. Just shows that prebiotic chemistry may have happened elsewhere, which is widely believed anyway.

Best not to get your science news from a business publication.

see the first few pages of this article for a review of prebiotic synthesis of nucleobases: http://physwww.mcmaster.ca/~higgsp/3D03/OrgelRNAWorld.pdf