Prebiotic chemicals-amino acid and phosphorus-in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Prebiotic chemicals-amino acid and phosphorus-in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
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DOI：
10.1126/sciadv.1600285
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发表时间：
2016-05
期刊：
影响因子：
13.6
通讯作者：
Wurz P
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Altwegg K;Balsiger H;Bar-Nun A;Berthelier JJ;Bieler A;Bochsler P;Briois C;Calmonte U;Combi MR;Cottin H;De Keyser J;Dhooghe F;Fiethe B;Fuselier SA;Gasc S;Gombosi TI;Hansen KC;Haessig M;Jäckel A;Kopp E;Korth A;Le Roy L;Mall U;Marty B;Mousis O;Owen T;Rème H;Rubin M;Sémon T;Tzou CY;Hunter Waite J;Wurz P
在67P的彗发中检测到甘氨酸和磷，表明彗星含有有助于在地球上激发生命的所有成分。彗星对于地球生命起源的重要性已经被提倡了几十年。氨基酸是化学的关键成分，是我们所知的生命的来源。许多原始陨石含有氨基酸，一般认为它们是由水蚀变形成的。在飞越威尔德2号彗星后，“星尘号”任务采集的收集器气凝胶和箔片样本中，发现了氨基酸的最简单形式甘氨酸，以及前体分子甲胺和乙胺。由于样品的污染问题，从13C同位素特征推断出彗星起源。我们报告了由ROSINA （Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis）质谱计测量的67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko彗发中存在挥发性甘氨酸、甲胺和乙胺，证实了Stardust的结果。再加上对磷和大量有机分子的检测，这一结果表明，彗星可能在地球上生命的出现中发挥了至关重要的作用。
The detection of glycine and phosphorus in the coma of 67P shows that comets contain all ingredients to help spark life on Earth. The importance of comets for the origin of life on Earth has been advocated for many decades. Amino acids are key ingredients in chemistry, leading to life as we know it. Many primitive meteorites contain amino acids, and it is generally believed that these are formed by aqueous alterations. In the collector aerogel and foil samples of the Stardust mission after the flyby at comet Wild 2, the simplest form of amino acids, glycine, has been found together with precursor molecules methylamine and ethylamine. Because of contamination issues of the samples, a cometary origin was deduced from the 13C isotopic signature. We report the presence of volatile glycine accompanied by methylamine and ethylamine in the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko measured by the ROSINA (Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis) mass spectrometer, confirming the Stardust results. Together with the detection of phosphorus and a multitude of organic molecules, this result demonstrates that comets could have played a crucial role in the emergence of life on Earth.