Rosetta Detected Glycine on Comet 67P, Bolstering Prebiotic Chemistry Theory 10 Years Later
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 2
Rosetta Detected Glycine on Comet 67P, Bolstering Prebiotic Chemistry Theory 10 Years Later
2 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 2
Rosetta’s ROSINA instrument made the first unambiguous cometary detection of glycine on 67P, alongside phosphorus, methylamine and ethylamine in gas streaming from the comet.
Repeated signals peaked near 67P’s August 2015 perihelion and tracked with dust, indicating the molecules were released from warming icy grains rather than inferred from contaminated returned samples.
Glycine is the simplest of the 20 protein-building amino acids, while phosphorus is central to DNA, RNA and cell membranes, making the pairing especially important for prebiotic chemistry studies.
The finding supports the idea that comets and asteroids could have delivered life’s chemical ingredients to early Earth, but it does not show that comets created life or explain how life began.
Rosetta’s broader gas survey also found foul-smelling trace compounds such as hydrogen sulphide and ammonia, though the comet’s coma was mostly odourless water, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
We've found the ingredients for life across the solar system. What is the missing link from chemistry to biology?
Life's building blocks are on comets, asteroids, and Mars. Which one was Earth's most crucial chemical supplier?
With life's components found on comets and asteroids, is discovering extraterrestrial life now just a matter of time?
From Rosetta to CAESAR: How Cometary Science is Unveiling the Cosmic Origins of Life’s Building Blocks
Overview
Recent planetary exploration missions have greatly advanced our understanding of comets as carriers of life's building blocks. Scientists now widely accept that essential ingredients for life, such as amino acids and simple sugars, are found throughout space—in meteorites and interstellar clouds. This widespread presence of organic molecules supports the idea that comets could have delivered these vital compounds to early Earth, playing a key role in the origin of life. A major breakthrough came when the Rosetta mission detected the amino acid glycine on Comet 67P, providing strong evidence that comets can transport life's fundamental components across the cosmos.