First Time, Scientists Discover Prescriptions of Life in Meteorites

For the first time, scientists discovered all the living matter in two meteorites.

The two meteorites fell in Texas, the United States, and Morocco in 1998. Since then, scientists have continued to analyze the content stored therein.

In addition to containing water, meteorites contain the amino acids needed to form proteins, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. Through this content, scientists say the two meteorites can bring life to the planet where they land.

The chemical element is known based on X-ray identification from the Advanced Light Source (ALS) facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California. The analyzed crystal fragments are not wider than human hair.

"This is really the first time we found a lot of organic material that is also associated with the water that is essential for the origin of life and the origin of complex organic compounds in space," said study leader Queenie Chan of The Open University, UK, reported by Science Alert , Friday (01/12/2010).

"We are looking at organic ingredients that can lead to the origin of life," Chan continued.

This finding raises allegations of other life beyond Earth. Scientists suspect that the rock came from the marine world that formed in the early days of the solar system, such as the dwarf planet Ceres.

One possibility, the compound of life is derived from ice or water jets of volcanic activity in Ceres. This is similar to the one in Enceladus, Saturn's sixth largest natural satellite.

Other organic matter can then be added through the collision of space objects.

The results of the analysis of small blue and purple salt crystals show, both are from the same source. The microscopic footprint of water in recorded fragments was born in the era of the birth of the solar system, which was 4.5 billion years ago.

"It's like a strange relic from the past," said one team of scientists, David Kilcoyne of the Berkeley Laboratory.

These findings are expected to be useful in the future. The elements of life in a meteorite teach that celestial bodies not only collide, but also share organic matter.

The large number of meteorite crystals that have not been analyzed can provide new insights for future human science.

"It all leads to the conclusion that the origin of life is really possible elsewhere," Chan said.