[meteorite-list] Scientists Confirm That Parts of Earliest GeneticMaterial May Have Come from the Stars (Murchison Meteorite)

[Jerry]

"We are stardust
  We are golden
  We are billion year old carbon
   And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden"
1969, CS&N[and genesis too, I believe]
Jerry Flaherty
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Baalke" <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 8:56 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Scientists Confirm That Parts of Earliest 
GeneticMaterial May Have Come from the Stars (Murchison Meteorite)



>

>

> Imperial College London

> London, U.K.

>

> Contact:

>

> Colin Smith

> Press Officer, Imperial College London

> Tel: +44 (0)207 594 6712

>

> Dr Zita Martins

> Department of Earth Science and Engineering

> South Kensington Campus

> Imperial College London

> London SW7 2AZ, UK

> Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 9982

> Fax: +44 (0)20 7594 7444

> http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/z.martins

>

> For Immediate Release: Friday 13 June 2008

>

> Scientists confirm that parts of earliest genetic material may have come

> from the stars

>

> Scientists have confirmed for the first time that an important component 

> of

> early genetic material which has been found in meteorite fragments is

> extraterrestrial in origin, in a paper published on 15 June 2008.

>

> The finding suggests that parts of the raw materials to make the first

> molecules of DNA and RNA may have come from the stars.

>

> The scientists, from Europe and the USA, say that their research, 

> published

> in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, provides evidence that

> life's raw materials came from sources beyond the Earth.

>

> The materials they have found include the molecules uracil and xanthine,

> which are precursors to the molecules that make up DNA and RNA, and are

> known as nucleobases.

>

> The team discovered the molecules in rock fragments of the Murchison

> meteorite, which crashed in Australia in 1969.

>

> They tested the meteorite material to determine whether the molecules came

> from the solar system or were a result of contamination when the meteorite

> landed on Earth.

>

> The analysis shows that the nucleobases contain a heavy form of carbon 

> which

> could only have been formed in space. Materials formed on Earth consist of 

> a

> lighter variety of carbon.

>

> Lead author Dr Zita Martins, of the Department of Earth Science and

> Engineering at Imperial College London, says that the research may provide

> another piece of evidence explaining the evolution of early life. She 

> says:

> "We believe early life may have adopted nucleobases from meteoritic

> fragments for use in genetic coding which enabled them to pass on their

> successful features to subsequent generations."

>

> Between 3.8 to 4.5 billion years ago large numbers of rocks similar to the

> Murchison meteorite rained down on Earth at the time when primitive life 

> was

> forming. The heavy bombardment would have dropped large amounts of 

> meteorite

> material to the surface on planets like Earth and Mars.

>

> Co-author Professor Mark Sephton, also of Imperial's Department of Earth

> Science and Engineering, believes this research is an important step in

> understanding how early life might have evolved. He added: "Because

> meteorites represent left over materials from the formation of the solar

> system, the key components for life -- including nucleobases -- could be

> widespread in the cosmos. As more and more of life's raw materials are

> discovered in objects from space, the possibility of life springing forth

> wherever the right chemistry is present becomes more likely."

>

> -Ends-

>

> Notes to editors:

>

> 1. "Extraterrestrial nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite", Earth and

> Planetary Science Letters, Sunday 15 June 2008 (Print publication)

> Zita Martins (1,2), Oliver Botta (3,4,5), Marilyn L. Fogel (6), Mark A.

> Sephton (2), Daniel P. Glavin

> (3), Jonathan S. Watson (7), Jason P. Dworkin (3), Alan W. Schwartz (8),

> Pascale Ehrenfreund (1,3)

>

> (1) Astrobiology Laboratory, Leiden Institute of Chemistry, 2300 RA 

> Leiden,

> The Netherlands

> (2) Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, London,

> SW7 2AZ, UK

> (3) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 699, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

> (4) Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center, University of Maryland

> Baltimore, County, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA

> (5) International Space Science Institute, Hallerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern,

> Switzerland

> (6) GL, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA

> (7) Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute, The Open University,

> Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK

> (8) Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 ED, Nijmegen,The Netherlands

>

> A full copy of the research can be downloaded at:

>     http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2008.03.026

>

> 2.  About Imperial College London

>

> Imperial College London -- rated the world's fifth best university in the

> 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement University Rankings -- is a

> science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and

> research that attracts 12,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest

> international quality.

>

> Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science,

> medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that

> improve quality of life and the environment -- underpinned by a dynamic

> enterprise culture. Website: www.imperial.ac.uk

>

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