A new study of samples from the asteroid Bennu, collected by NASA, shows that evaporated water left behind a salty mix where elements of life could mix and form complex structures. The study is published in Nature.

Bennu’s samples suggest that water once existed on its parent asteroid, turning into brines when it evaporated. These brines were places where organic compounds could develop.

“We now know from Bennu that the raw ingredients of life were combining in really interesting and complex ways on Bennu’s parent body,” says Tim McCoy in a Smithsonian press release. “We have discovered that next step on a pathway to life.”

In 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft grabbed samples from Bennu. The samples, weighing about 120 grams, came back to Earth in 2023.

The researchers think brines like those found on Bennu could also exist on other celestial bodies like Ceres or Enceladus. They plan to look at other meteorites with this new understanding. While these brines had the ingredients for life, it’s not clear if they could support complex life forms.

Traces of proteins and DNA

Another study published in Nature Astronomy found amino acids and nucleobases in the Bennu samples, key parts of proteins and DNA. A press release issued by Hokkaido University notes that Japanese contributors detected all five nitrogenous bases. The presence of these molecules, required for building DNA and RNA, supports the theory that asteroids could have brought the building blocks of life to Earth.

A NASA press release notes that the presence of these amino acids and nucleobases suggests that the early solar system presented the conditions necessary for the emergence of life.

A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory press release describes part of the instrumentation used to analyze the samples from Bennu. The Berkeley facilities that have contributed to these studies include the Advanced Light Source and the Molecular Foundry.

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