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News and Views
Nature 416, 380-381 (28 March 2002) | doi:10.1038/416380a
Astrobiology: Seeds of life?
Everett L. Shock
Abstract
Amino acids, a basic constituent of life, can form in dust grains that are similar to those found in the space between stars. But how much does this tell us about the origins of life on Earth?
Organic compounds in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles are thought by some to hold the key to the origin of life. Increasingly, investigations are revealing a complex history of chemical processes in the Solar System — processes by which the chemicals that are the basis of life may have been synthesized from the gas and dust that make up the interstellar medium.
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