Key molecule for life may have formed on interstellar ice

Some scientists suspect that amino acids were transported to Earth by meteorites. A team has now found that an amino acid called carbamic acid forms at extreme cold temperatures, suggesting that it may have been created on clumps of ice in deep space

By Chen Ly

29 November 2023

Some scientists think amino acids formed in space and reached Earth via asteroids or meteorites

Mark Garlick/SPL/Alamy

A key molecule for life may have formed in the cold, far-reaches of space, alongside budding stars and planets.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, making them vital for life on Earth. Some scientists suspect that they may have been transported to our planet by meteorites or asteroids. In fact, a few organic molecules, such as carbonic acid, have been spotted floating around in space over the past few decades. But how exactly these molecules formed is unclear.

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Now, Ralf Kaiser at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and his colleagues have found a key amino acid, called carbamic acid, could be created via reactions on clumps of ice in deep space.

Carbamic acid is a simple amino acid that is a precursor to more complex compounds found naturally in various enzymes.

To explore if carbamic acid could form in the extremely cold conditions of space, the team placed the reactants that form carbamic acid – carbon dioxide and ammonia – into a refrigerator that can go down to 5 kelvin (-268°C).