News From the Field
New Evidence That Comets Could Have Seeded Life on Earth

March 5, 2013

University of California, Berkeley and University of Hawaii scientists have shown that complex molecules can form on icy dust in space, suggesting that comets may have brought these molecules to the Earth and seeded the growth of more complex building blocks of life. The team zapped icy snowballs of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons, producing complex molecules, such as dipeptides, that are capable of catalyzing the formation of more complex structures. Full Story

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University of California, Berkeley

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