Panspermia/a critique of NASA researchers make first discovery of life's building block in comet

(Review Paper) Cited in Panspermia/a critique of NASA researchers make first discovery of life's building block in comet

Points Made

NASA scientists discover glycine in a comet. Glycine is the fundamental building block for life. It is used to make proteins in living organisms. Since it was found in a comet, it supports the theory that the life’s ingredients were formed in space and then delivered to earth by meteorites.

Methods

To prove this, NASA scientists sent a spaceship to space to collect comet gas and dust. As the spaceship flew through the material, an aerogel filled grid captured the gas and dust. This captured gas and dust were then shot back to earth for scientists to study how comets are formed and to find the history of our solar system.

Results

After studying the glycine found in the comet, scientists realized that it could be contaminated. To solve this problem, scientists measure the amount of the different isotopes of the carbon within the glycine. Scientists found that the glycine molecules found in space are made up of a higher carbon 13/carbon 12 ratio than on earth. That proves that the glycine found on the comet was from outer space, which proves the theory that the ingredients for life originated in outer space.

The glycine that was found on the comet could have originated from inside the comet when UV light hit the molecular precursors and caused them to react forming the amino acid. Researchers have concluded that this provides some of the best evidence that the precursors for life may have originated from outer space.