Astronomers have detected a complex sugar called erythrulose in an interstellar cloud within the Milky Way for the first time, strengthening the theory that some of the building blocks of life existed in space long before the Earth formed.
The discovery, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, was made by analysing observations from radio telescopes in Spain and comparing them with laboratory data.
Although erythrulose is not itself a component of living organisms, it can be converted into other sugars that play key roles in the chemistry of life.
The finding adds to growing evidence that complex organic molecules are widespread in space and supports the idea that the ingredients needed for life were already present in the interstellar medium before the birth of the Solar System.
Researchers now hope to identify other sugars across the galaxy to better understand how they form and evolve. If such molecules prove to be common throughout the Universe, the conditions required for life to emerge may also be more widespread than previously thought.
