Ribose, a sugar needed for life, has been detected in meteorites
The find suggests that a molecule crucial to life’s genetic machinery hitched a ride to Earth
![Space rocks hitting Earth illustration](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/112019_cc_meteorite_feat.jpg?fit=1028%2C579&ssl=1)
Space rocks that fell on a young Earth (illustrated) could have carried with them ribose, a molecule essential for life’s genetic machinery. This sugar now has been found in two meteorites.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab