Related papers: Science with an ngVLA: Prebiotic Molecules
Amino acids are considered to be prime ingredients in chemistry, leading to life. Glycine is the simplest amino acid and most commonly found in animal proteins. It is a glucogenic and non-essential amino acid that is produced naturally by…
The detection of the amino acid glycine and its amine precursor methylamine on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the Rosetta mission provides strong evidence for a cosmic origin of prebiotics on Earth. How and when such complex organic…
Over 200 molecules have been detected in multiple extraterrestrial environments, including glycolaldehyde (C2(H2O)2, GLA), a two-carbon sugar precursor that has been detected in regions of the interstellar medium. Its recent in situ…
In the laboratory, the photo-and thermochemical evolution of ices, made of simple molecules of astrophysical relevance, always leads to the formation of semi-refractory water-soluble organic residues. Targeted searches for specific…
Contrary to popular belief, the interstellar medium (ISM) is not empty; it is filled with atoms, dust particles, and molecules. Some of these molecules may have been the very building blocks of life that, delivered to Earth via comets and…
Planets assemble in the midplanes of protoplanetary disks. The compositions of dust and gas in the disk midplane region determine the compositions of nascent planets, including their chemical hospitality to life. In this context, the…
Would another origin of life resemble Earth's biochemical use of amino acids? Here we review current knowledge at three levels: 1) Could other classes of chemical structure serve as building blocks for biopolymer structure and catalysis?…
In the past decade, Astrochemistry has witnessed an impressive increase in the number of detections of complex organic molecules. Some of these species are of prebiotic interest such as glycolaldehyde, the simplest sugar, or amino…
Any search for present or past life beyond Earth should consider the initial processes and related environmental controls that might have led to its start. As on Earth, such an understanding lies well beyond how simple organic molecules…
An increasing number of large molecules have been positively identified in space. Many of these molecules are of biological interest and thus provide insight into prebiotic organic chemistry in the protoplanetary nebula. Among these…
Building blocks of life such as amino acids, nucleobases, and fatty acids are central to prebiotic chemistry and represent key targets in the search for planetary biosignatures. In planetary materials, biomolecules typically occur at trace…
One of the primary mechanisms for inferring the dynamical history of planets in our Solar System and in exoplanetary systems is through observation of elemental ratios (i.e. C/O). The ability to effectively use these observations relies…
It has been a long-standing problem to detect interstellar glycine (NH$_2$CH$_2$COOH), the simplest amino acid, in studying a possible relation between the Universe and origin of life. In the last about 40 years all surveys of glycine…
Detailed mapping of the distributions and kinematics of gases in cometary comae at radio wavelengths can provide fundamental advances in our understanding of cometary activity and outgassing mechanisms. Furthermore, the measurement of…
Glycine (NH2CH2COOH) is the simplest amino acid relevant for life. Its detection in the interstellar medium is key to understand the formation mechanisms of pre-biotic molecules and their subsequent delivery onto planetary systems. Glycine…
The Next-Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) will revolutionize our understanding of the Early Universe by tracing the coldest phase of molecular gas -the raw ingredient for star formation- in the most distant galaxies and galaxy-clusters.…
The chemical evolution of a star- and planet-forming system begins in the prestellar phase and proceeds across the subsequent evolutionary phases. The chemical trail from cores to protoplanetary disks to planetary embryos can be studied by…
Glycine is the simplest proteinaceous amino acid and is present in all life-forms on Earth. In aqueous solutions, it appears mainly as zwitterion glycine (+NH3CH2COO-); however, in solid phase, it may be found in amorphous or crystalline…
One of the proposed scenarios for the origin of life is the primordial RNA world, which considers that RNA molecules were likely responsible for the storage of genetic information and the catalysis of biochemical reactions in primitive…
Amino acids are essential for the synthesis of protein. Amino acids contain both amine (R$-$NH$_{2}$) and carboxylic acid (R$-$COOH) functional groups, which help to understand the possible formation mechanism of life in the universe. Among…