The recent detection of a sugar molecule in the interstellar medium could be a significant step forward in understanding the chemical evolution of the Milky Way and the origin of life on Earth. The presence of erythrose—a four-carbon sugar—was recorded in deep space in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy.
According to the National Observatory (NO), this discovery is the result of research in astrobiology—the science that studies the emergence, evolution, and distribution of life in the Universe. This topic will be discussed at the VI National Observatory School of Astrobiology (AstrobiON), which will take place from September 14 to 17. Registration for the event is open until September 4.
Marcelo Borges Fernandes, a researcher at the National Observatory and coordinator of the VI AstrobiON, emphasized that this discovery strengthens the importance of astrochemistry for comprehending the genesis of life. He noted that the detection of complex chemical components in deep space is directly related to the goals of astrobiology and the content being prepared for this AstrobiON session.
According to Fernandes, the goal of the school is to bring students and researchers up to date with the latest data on this topic. He added that they want to demonstrate how astrochemistry and the evolution of the Milky Way are linked to the appearance of life in space, inviting participants to discuss these new frontiers.
The identified molecule is erythrose, a sugar composed of four carbon atoms. Although this substance is known on Earth due to its presence in berries such as raspberries, its significance in space is much greater. The National Observatory indicates that researchers studying the origin of life aim to understand how the chemistry of the Universe can lead to the formation of ribose—a five-carbon sugar that is part of the structure of RNA and DNA.
The identification of erythrose proves that the existing chemistry in space is capable of creating increasingly long and complex carbon chains entirely abiotically, meaning without the involvement of living organisms. According to NO, this process represents an important chemical stage that could potentially lead to the emergence of life.
Despite the interstellar medium being extremely cold and rarefied, vast molecular clouds in the central part of the Milky Way function as natural laboratories and stellar nurseries where chemical reactions occur. To identify erythrose, a team led by astrochemist Isaskun Jimenez-Sierra from the Spanish Center for Astrobiology used two radio telescopes pointed at the center of the galaxy. The applied method was based on the spectroscopy of rotational molecular transitions.
Molecules constantly rotate and vibrate, emitting or absorbing radiation at specific frequencies. These frequencies serve as a unique 'fingerprint' for each chemical substance. Researchers detected this radiation emanating from the nebula and compared the signal with data previously obtained in ground laboratories where erythrose had already been studied. According to NO, the result showed a perfect match between the electromagnetic signature registered in space and the signature of the known molecule.
Despite confirming the presence of erythrose, the study revealed a paradox that challenges current models of astrochemistry. The radio telescopes clearly identified the four-carbon sugar but did not detect significant quantities of smaller sugars consisting only of three carbon atoms, which should theoretically be more common.
For Fernandes, this absence represents a serious scientific problem. He noted that this 'molecular vacuum' complicates the understanding of how organic matter accumulates and develops in space. In the researcher's opinion, current theories suggest that smaller molecules should appear more frequently. This paradox, he said, is the kind of real and intriguing problem they enjoy discussing at AstrobiON, as it demonstrates that there are mechanisms of molecular synthesis in the interstellar medium that still need to be deciphered.
Confirming the possibility of forming complex sugar molecules in space, even before the birth of stars and planets, also changes the perception of the origin of ingredients necessary for life. The National Observatory reports that estimates suggest that primitive Earth could have received up to 50 million tons of these sugars during the period known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, when the planet was frequently bombarded by meteorites and comets.
For scientists, if the fundamental components for the formation of RNA and DNA are present in molecular clouds distributed throughout the Milky Way, the probability increases that the so-called 'recipe for life' is also delivered to other forming planetary systems. This discovery reinforces the importance of astrobiology for understanding how complex organic molecules arise in the Universe and how they might contribute to the emergence of life in different parts of the galaxy.
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Scientists used ground-based radio telescopes to detect the presence of erythrose—a sugar found, for example, in raspberries—in the molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027 located in the Milky Way. This finding marks the first registered case of a sugar discovery in the interstellar medium, confirming the hypothesis that such complex prebiotic molecules can form and be preserved in space, from where they may enter the composition of small celestial bodies.
Sugars are critically important molecules for sustaining life because they participate in metabolic processes, act as structural components, and are part of the bases of DNA and RNA nucleic acids. Research into how simple sugars appeared on early Earth is necessary to understand the origin of life on our planet and its potential existence beyond Earth. It is already known that several sugars, including ribose and fructose, have been found in meteorite samples and on the surface of the asteroid Bennu, which, combined with laboratory results, allows for the suggestion that these complex compounds form in the interstellar medium.
To date, only glycolaldehyde—a simple diose classified as a hydroxyaldehyde close to sugars, rather than a true sugar—has been identified in interstellar clouds and comet cores. Difficulties in obtaining rotational spectra of sugars in the gas phase under laboratory conditions were recently overcome by using laser ultrafast evaporation, which allowed for the acquisition of the necessary data for analyzing ribose, 2-deoxyribose, and erythrose.
A group of astronomers led by Isaskun Jimenez-Serrano from the Spanish Astrobiology Center announced the discovery of erythrose in the interstellar medium. The scientists studied the molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027, which is located in the Galactic Central Molecular Zone, approximately 28 thousand light-years from the Sun. Observations were conducted between 2021 and 2024 using the 40-meter radio telescope of the Yepes Observatory and the 30-meter IRAM radio telescope. The cloud G+0.693-0.027 has long attracted the attention of astrochemists due to the presence of many complex molecules significant for living organisms.
Erythrose belongs to the ketoses, has four carbon atoms, and is present in raspberry berries as well as in cosmetic products. It has become the largest acyclic and the second chiral molecule identified in the interstellar medium. Its column density is 8.7 × 10^23 particles per square centimeter, which is similar to the value of glycolaldehyde also found in the cloud. Furthermore, researchers did not find traces of glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone (three-carbon sugars), indicating that erythrose occurs 8–17 times more frequently than these compounds, which is unusual. Glycerin, which could serve as a precursor to erythrose, was also not found.
Researchers believe that erythrose in G+0.693-0.027 may have formed as a result of a chemical reaction between glycolaldehyde radicals and ethylene glycol—both substances are present in the cloud in sufficiently high concentrations. This reaction possibly occurs on the solid surface of amorphous water ice covering dust particles in the interstellar medium, at temperatures characteristic of dust toward the center of the Milky Way (around 20–30 Kelvin).
The discovery of erythrose serves as direct evidence that complex chiral and prebiotic molecules are capable of arising and being preserved in the interstellar medium. In the context of the Solar System, sugars could have formed in the protostellar nebula, after which they entered the composition of small bodies that subsequently bombarded the young Earth. Moreover, ketoses like erythrose can transform into treose and erythrose in an aqueous environment, potentially leading to the appearance of the TRK molecule—a possible precursor to RNA.
It is also worth noting that astronomers have identified a promising candidate for an old, low-mass hypervelocity star leaving the Milky Way for the first time. It is hypothesized that the star DESI-HVS1 was previously part of a binary system that was ejected almost thirteen million years ago as a result of a close encounter with the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
