In Case You Missed It -- NASA Finds Traces of DNA in Space

[Donnachaidh]

http://newamericamedia.org/2011/08/in-case-you-missed-it----nasa-finds-dna-in-space.php

Fifteen years ago when scientists postulated that a Martian meteorite named Allan Hills might contain evidence of microscopic fossils of bacteria, the news was received with a mixture of astonishment and skepticism. This week, NASA researchers supported that theory by finding evidence that suggests nucleobases - the building blocks of genetic material - do exist in certain meteorites.

“People have been discovering components of DNA in meteorites since the 1960s, but researchers were unsure whether they were really created in space or if instead they came from contamination by terrestrial life," observed Dr. Michael Callahan, lead author of a study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, reported the Atlantic. "For the first time, we have three lines of evidence that together give us confidence these DNA building blocks actually were created in space."

But the researchers went further. These building blocks, they noted in their NASA-funded study,“may have served as a molecular kit providing essential ingredients for the origin of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere."

The discovery -- and the idea that our planet is part of an infinitely vast interstellar ecosystem -- is astonishing, but alas it came at a time of great social turmoil here on earth. It was buried on the proverbial page 3.

More at the link --

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. This is fascinating!

Is there any explanation for this?

Recommended.

[immoderate]

6. They are vague but it's probably amino acids. Not DNA!

Amino acids, which are basic to life forms, are easily synthesized in the laboratory, from elemental components. And have been detected in space. The elements are the most common in the universe, and can combine in many ways, particularly in water, probably the most common compound in the universe.

Disclaimer: I have no creds in either biology or astronomy, but I take an interest. :)

--imm

[eppur_se_muova]

10. As are nucleobases, which is what they found. NOT DNA. nt

[MineralMan]

2. Thank you for posting a story with some interesting substance.

Please do more of that. Thanks.

[Warpy]

3. The primordial soup created the same building blocks in the laboratory

within one short week.

I've always thought life was an artifact of planets. I take it back.

Life is an artifact of the universe.

[bananas]

4. Panspermia

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=panspermia&x=22&y=22
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia
http://www.panspermia.org/

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. Mentioned here as well, interesting stuff, as interesting as it gets.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x82060

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Corrected title: NASA **DOES NOT** Find Traces of DNA in Space

It's in the first two paras. The COMPONENTS of DNA were found in meteorites. No DNA, not even the shortest strands, were found, nor is there any reason to suppose they were ever present.

The claim made in the title is like finding bits of broken brick and saying you have found the remains of a building. You need evidence that they were ever more than just bricks.

from an earlier post on the same topic (one of three):

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.

Interesting that there wasn't a big brouhaha about this the first time it was reported http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=228&topic_id=41737&mesg_id=41737 ... perhaps NASA is trying to hard to gain publicity for its scientific endeavors.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

8. what a shitty headline

they did NOT find traces of DNA in space...they found the chemical building blocks. i know you didn't write the headline...it was in the link.

like saying of a rock that I had found traces of a cathedral.

sP

[eppur_se_muova]

9. Thank you ! GMTA. nt

[Posteritatis]

13. Yep. (nt)

[Matariki]

11. !

Very cool.

[LeftyMom]

12. Sweet zombie Darwin, science reporting sucks in this country.

They didn't find DNA. They found some chemical compounds that are part of DNA, if arranged just right in combination with squillions* of other similar compounds. This is "traces of DNA" the way that a speck of metal is "traces of a car."

*technical term

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. never mind. read it. fishy.

[Faux pas]

15. This is what I've always believed, and I ain't even a scientist.