Young Suns Teem with Prebiotic Molecules that May Create Life

It turns out that complex organic molecules aren't only found on Earth. Scientists have discovered that these molecules, which are essential for life, already appear in the regions where stars similar to our star are born.

Formamid (NH2CHO) is an organic molecule that is an excellent candidate for searching out and understanding the origin of life. It contains four essential elements and can synthesize amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids and other key compounds for living organisms.

"We have detected formamide in five protosuns, which proves that this molecule (in all probability also true for our solar system) is relatively abundant in molecular clouds and is formed in the very early stages of evolution towards a star and its planets," said Ana Lopez Sepulcre, lead author of the new study, in a news release.

Interestingly, the researchers didn't find formamide in five other objects. These objects, though, were less evolved and colder, which suggests that a minimum temperature is needed for formamide to be detected in gas.

The new study also offers clues on how formamide could be created n interstellar conditions. It could form on the surface of the dust grains of molecular clouds from isocyanic acid (HNCO) by the process of hydrogenation.

"Formamide formed in this way remains attached to the dust grain until the temperature is high enough (in other words, until the protostar evolves) to cause its sublimation," said Lopez Sepulcre. "And that is when we can detect it with radio telescopes."

The findings reveal that complex molecules can form in space. This has important implications for the creation of life not only on other planets, but also on Earth.

The findings are published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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