Rosetta’s comet contains the ingredients for life

Glycine, an organic compound found in proteins, has been detected in the halo surrounding Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe, according to new research published earlier this week in the journal Science Advances.

Kathrin Altwegg, a researcher at the University of Bern in Switzerland, and her colleagues made the discovery using an instrument known as the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA), and according to AFP and Associated Press reports, their find provides new evidence supporting the theory that comets brought the ingredients for life to the Earth.

Previously, researchers had confirmed the presence of more than 140 different molecules in the interstellar medium, the matter that exists in the space between the star systems in a galaxy, but the presence of amino acids such as glycine had yet to be confirmed, the study authors explained in a statement. They had been first detected in a comet by NASA’s Stardust mission in 2004, but scientists were able to rule out terrestrial contamination of the collected dust samples.

According to Altwegg, her team’s study provides “the first unambiguous detection of glycine in the thin atmosphere of a comet,” and the research provides evidence to support the belief that the building blocks of life may have been delivered to our planet by objects such as comets.

Discovery suggests that life could indeed exist elsewhere in the universe

In addition to detecting glycine, the ROSINA spectrometer also detected phosphorous, also an essential component of DNA and cell membranes, and other organic materials, according to the study authors. Combined, the results support the notion that comets brought key components of prebiotic chemistry to our solar system, and specifically, to the young Earth.

“The multitude of organic molecules already identified by ROSINA, now joined by the exciting confirmation of fundamental ingredients like glycine and phosphorous, confirms our idea that comets have the potential to deliver key molecules” for early life, noted Matt Taylor, a Rosetta project scientists with the ESA.

“Demonstrating that comets are reservoirs of primitive material in the Solar System, and vessels that could have transported these vital ingredients to Earth, is one of the key goals of the Rosetta mission, and we are delighted with this result,” he added. The researchers also detected signs of methylamine and ethylamine, the precursors to glycine, indicating that the compound most likely formed directly in the comet, as the reaction does not require the presence of liquid water.

“The beauty of it,” Altwegg told the AP via email, “is that the material in the comet was formed before the Sun and planets formed… That means what has happened a long time ago in the cloud from which our solar system emerged could happen in all clouds. Then you just need another planetary system forming with a planet at the right position and you could have another go at life. It may not be successful, but as there are billions of stars and as we now know billions of planets, chances are good.”

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Image credit: ESA

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