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

From: Jerry <grf2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:12:39 -0400
Message-ID: <E4117237DE8B4F3D9A15547B1AF2513D_at_Notebook>

"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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Received on Fri 20 Jun 2008 05:12:39 PM PDT