{"id":402109,"date":"2026-03-24T22:48:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T22:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/402109\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T22:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T22:48:15","slug":"asteroid-contains-all-5-genetic-molecules-required-for-life-says-jaxa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/402109\/","title":{"rendered":"Asteroid contains all 5 genetic molecules required for life, says JAXA"},"content":{"rendered":"

KTALnews.com (KTAL\/KMSS<\/a>) \u2013 A sample from the Ryugu asteroid has been revealed to contain all five \u201cbuilding blocks for life on Earth,\u201d according to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency<\/a> (JAXA).<\/p>\n

Wireless retinal implant is restoring vision for AMD patients <\/a><\/p>\n

JAXA\u2019s Hayabusa2 mission aimed to collect samples from a carbonaceous (C-type) asteroid, 162173 Ryugu, which were returned to Earth in December 2020. After thorough analysis, scientists discovered that the samples contained the five \u201ccanonical nucleobases\u201d \u2013 adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil.<\/p>\n

The first four form the double helix structure of DNA, while thymine is replaced by uracil in RNA, suggesting that these molecules can form without the presence of life. To view the full study, visit nature.com\/articles\/s41550-026-02791-z<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tune into KTAL News Now weekdays at 1 p.m. at\u00a0ktalnews.com\/ktal-news-now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KTALnews.com (KTAL\/KMSS) \u2013 A sample from the Ryugu asteroid has been revealed to contain all five \u201cbuilding blocks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[182293,18,19,17,90717,15518,40659,20990,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-402109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-building-blocks","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-japanese-aerospace-exploration-agency","13":"tag-jaxa","14":"tag-life-on-earth","15":"tag-ryugu","16":"tag-science"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116286594114467315","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}