Artist's depiction of life falling to Earth on a meteorite, according to the panspermia hypothesis
(Source: Internet Encyclopedia of Science: http://www.daviddarling.info/
encyclopedia/B/ballpans.html)
NASA-funded scientists have discovered amino acids, a fundamental building block of life, in a meteorite!!
Dr. Daniel Glavin of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. the lead scientist in the study, states:
"The shock of the collision heated it to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough that all complex organic molecules like amino acids should have been destroyed, but we found them anyway."
"Finding them in this type of meteorite suggests that there is more than one way to make amino acids in space, which increases the chance for finding life elsewhere in the Universe."
"The (scientific) team thinks it's unlikely amino acids could have survived the conditions that created the meteorite, which endured higher temperatures – more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (over 1,100 Celsius) – over a much longer period. "It would be hard to transfer amino acids from an impactor to another body simply because of the high-energy conditions associated with the impact," said Bada."
"Instead, the team believes there’s an alternate method for making amino acids in space. "Previously, we thought the simplest way to make amino acids in an asteroid was at cooler temperatures in the presence of liquid water. This meteorite suggests there’s another way involving reactions in gases as a very hot asteroid cools down," said Glavin. The team is planning experiments to test various gas-phase chemical reactions to see if they generate amino acids."
To read the entire article please click on the following link:
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-blocks-life-impossible.html
If you haven't taken biology or chemistry in a while, like myself, here is a refresher on amino acids.
"Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. They band together in chains to form the stuff from which your life is born. Think of amino acids as Legos for your life."
"It's a two-step process: Amino acids get together and form peptides or polypeptides. It is from these groupings that proteins are made. And there's not just one kind of amino acid."
"A total of 20 different kinds of amino acids form proteins,Three of those — phenylalanine, tryptophan, and valine — are essential amino acids for humans.The essential amino acids cannot be synthesized by the body; instead, they must be ingested through food.
One of the best-known essential amino acids is tryptophan, which performs several critical functions for people. Tryptophan helps induce normal sleep; helps reduce anxiety, depression, and artery spasm risk; and helps produce a stronger immune system.Amino acids make up 75% of the human body. They are essential to nearly every bodily function. Every chemical reaction that takes place in your body depends on amino acids and the proteins that they build.
The essential amino acids must be ingested every day. Failure to get enough of even one of the 10 essential amino acids can result in protein degradation. The human body simply does not store amino acids for later use, as it does with fats and starches.
Source:http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-amino-acids.htm
To read other news articles about this discovery please click on the following links:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/releases/2010/10-111.html
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid-collision-meteoroid-amino-acids-life-101215.html
http://www.astrochem.org/amino.html
Wow, if these scientists found amino-acids in a meteorite does that indicate more evidence that life as we know it exists somewhere out there in the Universe?
