Briefing Chat: Sweet! Elusive Sugar Molecules Found in Space
The four-carbon sugar was confirmed with 12 matching spectral lines, adding evidence that prebiotic molecules can form in deep space.
- An international team led by astronomer Izaskun Jiménez-Serra at Spain's Center for Astrobiology identified erythrulose, a true sugar, in molecular cloud G+0.693 near the Milky Way's center. This first-time detection confirms complex prebiotic ingredients form before planets exist.
- Unlike previously found two-carbon molecules, erythrulose contains four carbon atoms, placing it firmly in the sugar family. While not part of DNA, it belongs to the same chemical world and could provide starting material for early genetic chemistry.
- The search utilized laboratory data from physical chemist Emilio Cocinero at the University of the Basque Country. Follow-up observations with Yebes 40-meter and IRAM 30-meter radio telescopes confirmed 12 spectral lines matching erythrulose's unique rotational fingerprint.
- During the Late Heavy Bombardment about 4.1 billion to 3.9 billion years ago, asteroids and comets may have delivered between 0.5 million and 50 million metric tons of erythrulose to Earth. This suggests young planets need not have made all life's raw materials from scratch.
- Erythrulose is especially interesting because it can change into threose, a possible precursor to RNA-like molecules. Researchers now plan to test if space can create even larger sugars, further narrowing the gap between interstellar chemistry and life's origins.
28 Articles
28 Articles
Briefing Chat: Sweet! Elusive sugar molecules found in space
Nature, Published online: 17 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02263-4Nature staff discuss the discovery of a four carbon ‘true sugar’ in interstellar space — plus, a formula inscribed on a wall reveals a Maya mathematician’s name.
A team of Spanish researchers found traces of erythrulose in the centre of the Milky Way, a sugar that could have contributed to the creation of life in the interstellar space.
Discovered erytrulose molecules in interstellar space. According to scientists, it is a "discovery useful to investigate the origin of life"
Astronomers have found a sugar in a nebula near the center of our galaxy, which is also found in raspberries and self-tanners. It may be one of the building blocks that allowed life to arise on Earth and perhaps elsewhere in the universe.
For the first time, Spanish scientists have identified, in a study published on Monday 13 July, glucose cousin leerythrulose in interstellar space, which reinforces the scenario of a spatial origin of the molecules needed for life.
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