NASA Cooks Up Icy Organics to Mimic Life's Origins

Complex molecules can begin the transformation into life's building blocks in the frigid depths of deep space, a new study suggests.

Researchers brewed up concoctions of organics — carbon-containing compounds — in icy conditions in the lab, then blasted them with radiation akin to that streaming from stars. They found that the organics morphed into the types of molecules that could have jump-started life on Earth.

"The very basic steps needed for the evolution of life may have started in the coldest regions of our universe," lead author Murthy Gudipati, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. "We were surprised to see organic chemistry brewing up on ice, at these very cold temperatures in our lab."