Japanese space agency JAXA has discovered all five nucleobases that form the building blocks of DNA on asteroid Ryugu, according to analysis of samples returned by the Hayabusa2 mission. The finding marks the first time a complete set of these fundamental biological molecules has been identified on an extraterrestrial body.
The discovery provides significant evidence that the basic ingredients for life may be more common throughout the solar system than previously understood. Nucleobases are essential components of DNA and RNA, serving as the chemical letters that encode genetic information in all known life forms.