- Cyanide and carbon monoxide are both deadly poisons to humans, but compounds containing iron, cyanide, and carbon monoxide discovered in carbon-rich meteorites by a team of scientists at Boise State University and NASA may have helped power life on early Earth.
- The extraterrestrial compounds found in meteorites resemble the active site of hydrogenases, which are enzymes that provide energy to bacteria and archaea by breaking down hydrogen gas (H2).
- Their results suggest that these compounds were also present on early Earth, before life began, during a period of time when Earth was constantly bombarded by meteorites and the atmosphere was likely more hydrogen-rich.
- According to Dr. Karen Smith, senior research scientist at Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, Cyanide, a carbon atom bound to a nitrogen atom, is thought to be crucial for the origin of life, as it is involved in the non-biological synthesis of organic compounds like amino acids and nucleobases, which are the building blocks of proteins and nucleic acids used by all known forms of life.
- Scientists developed new analytical methods to extract and measure ancient traces of cyanide in meteorites. They found that the meteorites containing cyanide belong to a group of carbon-rich meteorites called CM chondrites.
- Other types of meteorites tested, including a Martian meteorite, contained no cyanide.
Data collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft of asteroid Bennu indicate that it is related to CM chondrites. - As per the scientist, OSIRIS-REx will deliver a sample from Bennu to study on Earth in 2023. (NASA)
