Scientists find all types of Earth's RNA and DNA bases in meteorites

All five bases that make up DNA and RNA have now been detected in meteorite samples, according to a study published yesterday (April 26) in the journal Nature Communications

"Earth meteorites carrying these compounds may have played a role in early genetic emergence," notes study author Daniel Glavin

To see if bases could form in extraterrestrial conditions, the researchers also performed "lab experiments simulating photochemical reactions in the interstellar medium," Glavin told Chemistry World

Helena Bates, an asteroid researcher at the Natural History Museum in London who was not involved in the work, told the museum's news site: "The idea that the molecules that make up DNA have been found in rocks in space is very strange

However, Michael Callahan, a cosmochemist at Boise State University who was not involved in the work but collaborated with some of the authors, told Science News he doesn't think the study rules out contamination after the meteorites arrived on Earth possibility, since terrestrial soils and other environments also contain nucleotide bases