Stars and The Birth of Life

From the deep recesses of the universe, astrophysicists and astronomers alike look for remnants of the Big Bang after which all things came to be. The search for the origins of life continues.

And in this search, scientists have found that stars contain a molecule that leads to the formation of adenine, a DNA nucleobase.

Stars, of course, not only sustain life, by showering planet Earth in photons, but also can contain, in their protostellar (or very young) form, a precursor material of life: a molecule called glycolonitrile. It is “one of the key precursors towards adenine formation,” scientists reported in January, in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

(Image credit: Moaz Aqeel Chishti/Wikimedia Commons)