Saturday, March 29, 2025
Scientists examining samples from the asteroid Bennu say the space rock contains essential chemical ingredients for life, supporting theories that asteroids may have helped spark life on early Earth.
The findings come from a study of material collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and recently analyzed at the Natural History Museum in London. Researchers discovered amino acids, phosphates, and the five nucleobases that make up RNA and DNA—all building blocks of life.
“We were completely blown away,” said Prof. Sara Russell, cosmic mineralogist at the museum and co-lead author of the study published in Nature. “The diversity and richness of organic compounds in Bennu is unlike anything we’ve seen before in extraterrestrial material.”
The asteroid samples—120 grams in total, with 200 milligrams provided to UK scientists—also revealed a unique phosphorus compound never before seen in meteorites. This compound is critical to the chemistry of living cells.
Russell said Bennu’s parent body likely hosted underground brine lakes, which evaporated and left behind salt deposits similar to Earth’s ancient lake beds. These conditions would have supported the formation of complex prebiotic chemicals.
The new data strongly supports the idea that asteroids bombarding the early Earth may have delivered the raw materials needed for life to begin.
While no one believes life ever evolved on Bennu itself, scientists suggest that asteroids like it may have transported key ingredients to young, habitable planets like Earth—where conditions allowed life to emerge over 3.7 billion years ago.
The findings will feature in the Natural History Museum’s new exhibition, Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?, opening May 16, 2025. The exhibition will explore the latest breakthroughs in astrobiology and planetary science, including:
Upcoming missions to Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede
The UK-built Rosalind Franklin rover, scheduled to land on Mars in 2029
Real samples from the Moon, Mars, and asteroids available for visitors to see and touch
Last week, the search for alien life made global headlines after the James Webb Space Telescope detected dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS)—molecules linked to biological activity—on the distant exoplanet K2-18b.
While the presence of such compounds doesn’t confirm alien life, scientists say it adds weight to the idea that life could exist elsewhere in the universe.
“If we do find life—on Mars, Europa, or even a distant planet—how will we respond?” said Sinead Marron, the museum’s senior exhibitions manager. “Would we observe, interact, or even exploit it? These are questions our exhibition asks visitors to seriously consider.”
With each sample returned and each distant world explored, humanity moves closer to answering one of the oldest questions in science: Are we alone in the universe?
The secrets locked inside asteroid Bennu may be one of the most important clues we’ve found yet.
