Scientists Find Origin-of-Life Molecule in Space for First Time

A molecule common to Earth and usually associated with life has been detected in the depths of space by scientists.

Carbonic acid (HOCOOH), which you may know as the chemical that makes your soda fizzy, was discovered lurking near the center of our galaxy in a galactic center molecular cloud named G+0.693-0.027, a study published in The Astrophysical Journal revealed.

This marks the third time that carboxylic acids—this class of chemicals, often thought to be some of the building blocks of life—have been detected in space, after acetic acid and formic, and the first time that an interstellar molecule has been found to contain three or more oxygen atoms.

"Our observations have allowed us to know that carbonic acid, which until now had remained invisible to our eyes, is relatively abundant in space, which makes it an essential piece to understand the interstellar chemistry of carbon and oxygen, two of the fundamental chemical elements in any prebiotic process," Víctor M. Rivilla, a researcher at the Spanish Center for Astrobiology and co-author of the study, told German broadcaster DW.

"This result confirms that the path we have chosen is the right one to search for, and detect more molecules that we suspect were key to the appearance of life on our planet," he concluded.

Carboxylic acids are a type of organic compound characterized by a carbon (C) atom doubly bonded to an oxygen (O) atom and singly bonded to a hydroxyl group (―OH). Carbonic acid in particular is formed when CO2 is dissolved in water, meaning that it is present in increased concentrations in our seas due to CO2 in the atmosphere.

Many theories as to how life on Earth evolved suggest that primitive life may have emerged from a primordial soup of chemicals when our planet was very young. Some have suggested that these chemicals, including carboxylic acids, may have arrived on Earth from space, traveling via comets and meteorites to the forming planet.

Carbonic acid has been previously detected on other astronomical bodies, including the icy moons of Jupiter, in some meteorites and comets, and even on Mars and Mercury, but until now, has not been seen in interstellar space.

The authors explained that the discovery of these more complex molecules in the interstellar medium may reveal clues about the origins of our planet and the life upon it.

"The presence of prebiotic COMs within extraterrestrial material thus firmly suggests the existence of carboxylic acids of increasing complexity in the ISM (interstellar medium), including amino acid–related species. Within this context, considerable efforts have been devoted to hunting for other acids, such as propenoic or acrylic acid, propanoic acid, cyanoacetic acid, glycolic acid, hydantoic acid, and glycine, whose identification in the [interstellar medium] remains elusive."

Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about interstellar chemicals? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.