TLDR

The asteroid Ryugu contains every letter of the genetic alphabet

This is awesome, but does not mean life fell to Earth from space

Elise Cutts

Elise Cutts

— 5 min read
The asteroid Ryugu contains every letter of the genetic alphabet
The asteroid Ryugu contains several different kinds of organic molecule, including the five molecular "letters" of the genetic alphabet Image: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST
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Once again, asteroid samples are in the headlines: this Monday, researchers announced that they'd found all five letters of the genetic alphabet in rock dust returned from the asteroid Ryugu.

Whenever research like this hits headlines, the headlines are invariably... fun. My favorite this time is India Today's "All 5 chemicals that make up life found in a space rock for the first time."

Lest you think this is a cherrypicked tabloid that nobody reads, India Today is the most widely circulated magazine in the world's biggest democracy.

Ah yes, all five chemicals that make up life. All five of them.

New Scientist (a magazine I write for, because I am indeed stupid enough to throw stones from a glass house) went with an even bolder headline:

Journalists usually don't write their own headlines, just so you know. But I was a bit surprised by this one, considering the article is narrowly focused on RNA and DNA and doesn't mention any of the other "main ingredients of life" that have been found in Ryugu.

Reading things like this, you could be forgiven for thinking asteroids are basically ready-made life construction kits. But what should we really make of this new discovery? What does it tell us that we didn't know before — and what does it mean for the origin of life?

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