NASA scientists studying rocks from asteroid Bennu found a perplexing mix of amino acids that deepens a molecular mystery on Earth.

A mysterious cosmic traveler has found its way to the Solar System from the uncharted reaches of interstellar space. The rare ...

More asteroids could have made life's ingredients Date: January 19, 2011 Source: NASA Summary: A wider range of asteroids were capable of creating the kind of amino acids used by life on Earth ...

NASA OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return team has revealed exciting evidence of the ... There are 20 amino acids that create the proteins required for life on our planet — and scientists have now ...

All life on Earth relies on a standard set of 20 amino acids to build the proteins that carry out life's essential actions. A new study looks at whether life could evolve on Earth or in space with ...

In October, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will collect a sample of asteroid Bennu and return a sealed sample of dirt and rocks back to Earth. Researchers will look for amino acids in that sample too.

An amino acid called glycine has been found in dust collected by the Stardust spacecraft, which flew by Comet Wild 2 in 2004 (Illustration: NASA/JPL) An amino acid has been found on a comet for ...

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) upcoming Exo-Mars rover will also be capable of searching for biotic organics; such as amino acids and fatty acids. And NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will also carry ...

Glycine – CH 2 NH 2 COOH – is the simplest of all the 20 amino acids. Yi-Jehng Kuan of the National Taiwan Normal University and co-workers from the NASA Ames Research Center and the Polish Academy of ...

In Earth life, the amino acids are always "left-handed," and sugars, which partly make up the backbone of DNA, are always right-handed, giving the double helix its signature twist to the right.

Since life based on right-handed amino acids would presumably work fine, scientists are trying to find out why Earth-based life favored left-handed amino acids. In March 2009, researchers at NASA ...