Interstellar space has just gained a surprisingly familiar aroma and flavor. Astronomers have discovered the presence of erythulose — a type of complex sugar commonly found in raspberries on Earth — buried in the heart of our galaxy, the Milky Way.
The unprecedented discovery was made in the gas and dust cloud known as G+0.693-0.027 , located near the galactic center in the constellation Sagittarius. This is the first time this specific sugar has been identified outside our Solar System.
The Technology Behind the Discovery
To detect the chemical signature of sugar thousands of light-years away, researchers used the combined power of two large observatories in Spain:
- The Yebes radio telescope (40 meters in diameter);
- The IRAM radio telescope (30 meters in diameter).
The results, published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Astronomy, were subsequently confirmed through simulations and high-precision spectroscopic measurements in the laboratory.
“We were able to make this detection thanks to a combination of exceptionally sensitive observations, broad frequency coverage, and high-precision laboratory spectroscopic data,” explained Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, co-author of the study and researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). “Furthermore, our astronomical target possesses one of the richest chemical inventories in the galaxy, which increases the odds of detection.”
Why Do Space Sugars Matter to Life?
In the search for signs of habitability in the cosmos, water and carbon often receive almost all the attention. However, sugars play an irreplaceable structural and energetic role in the biology we know. They help provide cellular energy, build membranes, and form essential parts of genetic material.
The discovery of erythrulose (which has four carbon atoms) is considered a milestone in the study of astrobiology and the origin of life. Scientists point out that the presence of this sugar alters and influences the configuration of threose —a simpler sugar considered the direct precursor of the first nucleic acids that eventually evolved into RNA and DNA.
A History of “Sweet” Discoveries
This is not the first time that organic chemistry has surprised scientists in space, although the current finding is the first in deep interstellar space. Different types of sugars had already been found in space rocks much closer to us:
- Ribose and Glucose in Meteorites: Samples of space rocks that fell to Earth revealed traces of ribose (the basis of RNA) and glucose.
- The Bennu Asteroid Sample: Recently, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission brought dust and fragments from the asteroid Bennu back to Earth. Laboratory analyses confirmed the presence of glucose and ribose in the material, proving that these basic biological compounds were once traveling through the early Solar System.
The detection of erythrocyte in the cloud G+0.693-0.027 proves that the ingredients necessary for the chemistry of life do not depend on already formed planets to exist; they form and float freely in deep space, awaiting the moment to seed new worlds.
