Scientists Find a Link to Life in Outer Space

Scientists have for the first time shown that when simple chemicals are exposed to the harsh conditions of deep space, the molecules spontaneously arrange themselves into hollow structures that look like the cell membranes found in all living things.

The work shows that early chemical steps considered important for the origin of life can form in space, the researchers said. It lends weight to arguments that life on Earth might have been “kick-started” billions of years ago when organic compounds, born in cold interstellar clouds, landed on this planet aboard comets, meteorites and interplanetary dust.

“Scientists believe the molecules needed to make a cell’s membrane, and thus [needed] for the origin of life, are all over space,” said Louis Allamandola of NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, who led the study. “This discovery implies that life could be everywhere in the universe.”

The findings provide an intriguing new clue to one of science’s biggest and most complex mysteries: How did life arise?

The researchers said crucial early processes appear to take place in space, with the implication that if the resulting compounds land in any favorable environment, they can easily trigger life.