Sugar Detected in Interstellar Space for First Time

Astronomers have identified a natural sugar in a molecular cloud near the center of the Milky Way, supporting the idea that life's building blocks can form before planets exist.

• Researchers detected erythrulose, a sugar found in red berries on Earth, in the molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027 using two radio telescopes in Spain.
• Jiménez-Serra said the discovery was unexpected and shows that relatively complex sugars can form in interstellar space before stars and planets are born.
• The study estimates that 500,000 to 50 million metric tons of erythrulose may have reached Earth via asteroids during the Late Heavy Bombardment around 4 billion years ago.
• Briones said the detection opens the possibility of finding other sugars, such as ribose, in space — molecules important for the origin of life.