[meteorite-list] Diamino Acids Found For The First Time In A Meteorite (Murchison Meteorite)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Jun 10 16:07:18 2004
Message-ID: <200406102007.NAA04713_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/8223/8223earlyscicon.html

Diamino acids in meteorite
SARA DRAKE
Chemical & Engineering News
June 10, 2004
                        
For the first time, diamino acids have been discovered in a
meteorite. Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, a
team led by Uwe J. Meierhenrich of the University of Bremen,
in Germany, has identified seven diamino acids-including D- and
L-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid, D- and L-2,4-diaminobutanoic acid,
3,3'-diaminoisobutanoic acid, 2,3-diaminobutanoic acid, and
4,4'-diaminoisopentanoic acid-in the Murchison chondritic
meteorite [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 101, 9182 (2004)].
Previously, researchers found individual amino acids in the
Murchison meteorite.

Amino acids arriving on Earth through similar avenues are
thought to have triggered life's beginnings. Diamino acids
may also have played a role in the development of life on
Earth. They are the backbone of peptide nucleic acid
materials thought to have preceded both RNA and DNA in
early life. This new work suggests that diamino acids had
extraterrestrial origins and may have arrived on Earth via
meteorites during prebiotic times.
Received on Thu 10 Jun 2004 04:07:05 PM PDT