Hokkaido University, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Keio University,
Human Metabolome Technologies, Inc,
Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo

Summary of Presentations

An international research group led by Associate Professor Yasuhiro Ohba of the Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Project Associate Professor Yoshiteru Takano of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), and Project Professor Hiroshi Naraoka of the Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University, has discovered that particles brought back by the asteroid probe "Hayabusa2" from the asteroid Ryuguu They succeeded in detecting uracil, a nucleobase contained in the RNA of all life on Earth, in a particle from the asteroid Ryuguu brought back by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. In addition, vitamin _B3 (niacin), an important coenzyme related to the metabolism of life, was also detected in the same sample.

In December 2020, the asteroid probe "Hayabusa2" delivered samples from the asteroid "Ryuguu" to Earth, making it the first time in the world that samples collected directly from a carbonaceous asteroid are analyzed in the laboratory ( published in Science on February 10, 2022 ). The Soluble Organic Molecules Analysis Team, one of the initial analysis subteams, has previously demonstrated the presence of various organic compounds, such as amino acids and carboxylic acids, in Ryuguu samples (published in Science on February 24, 2023 ). In this study, we focused on cyclic organic compounds containing nitrogen (nitrogen heterocyclic compounds) and verified their presence in Ryuguu samples in detail.

Using an ultra-sensitive analytical method developed by this research team, they succeeded in detecting uracil, one of the nucleobases contained in the RNA of all Earth life, and vitamin _B3 (niacin), one of the coenzymes essential for the metabolism of life, in a Ryuguu sample of about 10 milligrams. These detections provide a real picture of the chemical evolution of organic molecules and strongly support the theory that components supplied by extraterrestrial materials such as carbonaceous meteorites (i.e., asteroid fragments) were the materials for the ultimate mystery in science: how the first life on the primitive Earth was created before the birth of life. The results of this research are expected to be published in Japan in the near future.

The research results were published online in Nature Communications at 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 (Japan Standard Time).

Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa2 collecting samples containing uracil and vitamins at Ryuguu (NASA Goddard/JAXA/Dan Gallagher)

Professor Shogo Tachibana of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science, UTokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science, is the initial analysis team leader for this research.

For more information, please visit the Hokkaido University website.

Journal

Journal name	Nature Communications
Title of paper	Detection of Uracil in the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu
DOI number	10.1038/s41467-023-36904-3