Prebiotic Glycerol in Interstallar Ice

It is in dense clouds of interstellar dust, gas, and ice like the Keyhole Nebula (above) that new stars and planetary systems are formed. This image of the Keyhole nebula comes from the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STSci), Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2, STSci-PRC00-06

Glycerol is a key building block of cell membranes, but scientists have not been able to explain its existence on early Earth. A study supported in part by the Exobiology & Evolutionary Biology element of the NASA Astrobiology Program shows that glycerol might form when ionizing radiation interacts with interstellar ices.

Following this radiation-induced formation of glycerol, interstellar grains can then be incorporated into the building material of solar systems. From here, the team believes that comets and meteorites could serve to deliver the glycerol to habitable planets like the early Earth.

The study, “Synthesis of Prebiotic Glycerol in Interstellar Ices,” was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Source: [Angewandte Chemie]