NASA Finds Ribose and Glucose on Asteroid Bennu, Strengthening the 'RNA World' Hypothesis

NASA Detects Sugars on Bennu That Could Help Explain Life’s Origins

Scientists analyzing samples returned by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission have identified ribose — the five-carbon sugar essential to RNA — and glucose, a six-carbon sugar used for energy, in material collected from asteroid Bennu. This is the first confirmed detection of ribose in a sample directly retrieved from an asteroid, bolstering the idea that key ingredients for early biochemistry were present in the primitive solar system.

What Was Found

Researchers report both ribose and glucose in the returned material from the roughly 500-meter-wide asteroid, located some 200 million miles from Earth. The presence of ribose is especially significant because RNA uses ribose as its backbone; combined with previously detected nucleobases and phosphates in Bennu samples, the components necessary to form RNA are now known to exist in the same extraterrestrial material.

“All five nucleobases used to construct both DNA and RNA, along with phosphates, have already been found in the Bennu samples brought to Earth by OSIRIS-REx,” said study leader Yoshihiro Furukawa of Tohoku University. “The new discovery of ribose means that all of the components to form the molecule RNA are present in Bennu.”

Unusual Organic Material — The 'Space Gum'

Scientists also uncovered a hardened, once-squishy organic substance — informally described as a kind of “space gum” — that is rich in nitrogen- and oxygen-containing polymers. Researchers propose this material formed from carbamate compounds that linked into complex chains as Bennu’s parent body experienced early heating events in the solar system. Scott Sandford of NASA Ames, who led a related study, described this material as among the rock’s earliest chemical alterations.

“We’re looking at, quite possibly, one of the earliest alterations of materials that occurred in this rock… events near the beginning of the beginning,” said Scott Sandford.

Stardust and Solar-System Context

The samples also contain unusually high amounts of presolar material: roughly six times more supernova-derived dust than other known space rocks. That suggests Bennu’s parent body formed in a region of the protoplanetary disk enriched by the ashes of dying stars, offering a rare window into the galaxy’s original chemical mix.

Mission Context and Implications

OSIRIS-REx collected samples from Bennu during a 2020 touch-and-go maneuver and returned them to Earth in September 2023 for laboratory analysis. Bennu formed about 4.6 billion years ago and passes near Earth approximately every six years, sometimes coming closer than the Moon. The new findings support the so-called "RNA world" hypothesis, which proposes RNA could have served as both genetic material and catalyst in early life. The detection of sugars like glucose indicates that energy-bearing and structural molecules were available in the early solar system.

Risk Note: Scientists currently estimate about a 1-in-2,700 chance that Bennu could impact Earth in 2182 — a low-probability event monitored by planetary defense teams.

All facts presented are based on published analyses of OSIRIS-REx returned samples and commentary from study authors.