Meteorite Contains Building Blocks of Life

The Murchison meteorite contains over 100 extraterrestrial amino acids and the nucleotide bases uracil and xanthine--the building blocks of proteins, DNA and RNA.

clipped from en.wikipedia.org The Murchison meteorite is named after Murchison, Victoria, in Australia. It is one of the most studied meteorites due to its large mass (>100 kg), the fact that it was an observed fall, and it belongs to a group of meteorites rich in organic compounds. CM chondrites, together with the CI group, are rich in carbon and are among the most chemically primitive meteorites in our collections. Like other CM chondrites, Murchison contains abundant CAIs. Over 100 amino acids (some of the basic components of life) have been identified in the meteorite.