Is it feasible to obtain abiogenesis replicated in lab? Amino acids found on the asteroid by Hayabusa 2

Is it feasible to obtain a replicated biological origin in the laboratory? Recently, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discovered more than 20 amino acids in the rock samples brought back to Earth by the Hayabusa 2 asteroid probe, which is the first time that the existence of amino acids has been confirmed outside the Earth. Have you ever considered abiogenesis replicated in lab?

Since amino acids are the basic units of proteins, this has led to extensive discussions on whether extraterrestrial life exists outside of Earth and whether the origin of life on Earth originated from space.

Some experiments have demonstrated abiogenesis replicated in lab.Science Disinformation, created by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology and others, posted an article about this, saying that the current discovery of organic matter on meteorites does not prove that life on Earth originated extraterrestrially, but it illustrates the point that the existence of organic matter is relatively common in cosmic space, and that various organic substances can be formed as long as conditions are suitable.

"Amino acids by themselves cannot represent the existence of life, but the chemical essence of proteins, the large molecules that play a major function in life activities (such as enzymes that catalyze various biochemical reactions), is a large number of amino acids that polymerize into long chains and then fold into shape. Therefore, the discovery of amino acids is very significant for the study of extraterrestrial life." On June 10, Zhang Yuchen, a columnist of Science Fiction World who has a background in life sciences, told reporters.

In the 1970s, when scientists analyzed the chemical composition of the meteorite "Murchison" that fell in Australia, they found that the meteorite contained more than 70 kinds of amino acids such as glycine, alanine, glutamic acid, isovaline and pseudo-leucine, etc. This discovery then caused a craze for the search of extraterrestrial life, but because "But since Murchison was studied only after it fell to Earth, there are voices who believe that these amino acids are actually from the Earth's environment.

This time, Hayabusa 2 took samples of asteroid rocks directly from the outer space environment and analyzed them in a form that was not exposed to the Earth's air, so it was also a "real" proof of the existence of amino acids in space. Scientists study abiogenesis replicated in lab.

Specifically, the Hayabusa 2 asteroid probe visited the carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu from June 2018 to November 2019, during which it collected "During this period, it collected sand samples from the surface and subsurface of Ryugu and brought back about 5.4 grams of black sand-like material in December 2020.

Research by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and other research institutions found that the sand contained substances that make up organic matter, such as carbon and nitrogen. In February, the research team found that the sand sample on Ryugu is highly similar to the CI group of carbonaceous spherical meteorites, and the sample analysis showed that the asteroid Ryugu is rich in minerals formed by the reaction with water, so it can be assumed that the formation of It can be concluded that the original body that formed "Ryugu" may contain a large amount of water.

In June of this year, further analysis revealed that the sand sample contained more than 20 amino acids that are closely related to life activities. Among them, it has been confirmed to contain isoleucine and valine. In addition, there is also glycine, which is used to make collagen, and glutamic acid, which produces fresh taste. According to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, the discovery will likely further confirm that life originated in space, i.e., that the original amino acid molecules on Earth were likely carried to Earth by meteorites.

Science Disinformation says that while amino acids in the universe illustrate the widespread presence of organic matter in cosmic space, it is actually difficult to provide a sufficiently stable environment for the formation of life in cosmic space. That's because scientists have found that the amino acids found in meteorites are not of the same configuration as the amino acids that make up life. Many of them are isomers (same molecular formula, different structure) because there are differences in the molecular structure between meteorites and the same kind of organic matter on Earth.

It is known that amino acids are divided into two categories: "levorotatory" and "rorotatory", and all the molecules of life on Earth are levorotatory. However, the amino acids in meteorites have both left- and right-handed structures. The Asahi Shimbun thus said that if the amino acids found on the asteroid "Ryugu" are also levorotatory amino acids, then the possibility that life originated in space will be further increased.

Science Disinformation believes that the discovery of organic matter on meteorites does not prove that life on Earth originated from outside the Earth, but it shows that the existence of organic matter is relatively common in cosmic space, and as long as the conditions are suitable, all kinds of organic matter can be formed. It can be speculated that as long as there is a habitable planet like Earth, the possibility of life exists, or more radically, extraterrestrial life must exist.

Zhang Yuchen told reporters that some scholars have always believed that amino acids may be rare in the universe, so many planets lack the raw materials to form life, even if they have the basic environment to form life, or at least it is difficult to form life similar to Earth, "This discovery implies that the distribution of amino acids in the universe may be more widespread than many people previously expected. This leaves one to re-evaluate the possibility of extraterrestrial life, at the very least, that extraterrestrial life at the microbial level may be more common than expected."

Currently, eight teams in Japan are analyzing the samples in detail. Zhang Yuchen said that the Japanese research team has only released an early release to the public, but the official research report and detailed paper have not yet been published, and the specific measurement data and analysis results of these amino acids are still pending.