Asteroid Bennu Contains Sugars Linked to Life

Scientists found six sugars, including ribose and glucose, in asteroid Bennu samples, adding key ingredients linked to RNA and energy to earlier life-related compounds. [oai_citation:0‡NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/missions/osiris-rex/sugars-gum-stardust-found-in-nasas-asteroid-bennu-samples/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

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Samples returned from asteroid Bennu contain six identified sugars, including ribose and glucose, along with lyxose, xylose, arabinose, and galactose. Ribose is part of RNA, while glucose is an important energy source for living cells. The finding adds another major group of organic molecules to an already remarkable collection found in Bennu, including amino acids, nucleobases, and phosphates. Together, these compounds show that many of the chemical ingredients used by life were present in the material that formed parts of the early solar system. The sugars were identified using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry on a carefully handled Bennu sample. The spacecraft collected the material in 2020 and returned it to Earth in 2023. The discovery does not mean that life was found on Bennu. Instead, it strengthens the picture of a young solar system containing a rich supply of prebiotic chemistry, and it gives scientists another way to investigate how the raw ingredients needed for life may have reached early Earth.

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