Scientists confirm that parts of earliest genetic material may have come
from the stars

The finding suggests that parts of the raw materials to make the first
molecules of DNA and RNA may have come from the stars.

The scientists, from Europe and the USA, say that their research, published
in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, provides evidence that
life's raw materials came from sources beyond the Earth.

The materials they have found include the molecules uracil and xanthine,
which are precursors to the molecules that make up DNA and RNA, and are
known as nucleobases.

The team discovered the molecules in rock fragments of the Murchison
meteorite, which crashed in Australia in 1969.

They tested the meteorite material to determine whether the molecules came
from the solar system or were a result of contamination when the meteorite
landed on Earth.

The analysis shows that the nucleobases contain a heavy form of carbon which
could only have been formed in space. Materials formed on Earth consist of a
lighter variety of carbon.