Astronomers report the first detection of a sugar molecule in interstellar space: erythrulose, a chiral four-carbon sugar, was identified in the Galactic Centre cloud G+0.693 using the Yebes 40m and IRAM 30m telescopes. The team found erythrulose at least eight times more abundant than related three-carbon sugars, which were not detected. Researchers note erythrulose also occurs on Earth in raspberries and in self-tanners, and they say the finding confirms sugars can form in the interstellar medium without biology. Dr Izaskun Jiménez-Serra said the result shows key prebiotic compounds can arise before stars and planets form, a step that helps explain how RNA and DNA building blocks might have appeared on early Earth. Previous finds of sugars in meteorites and samples from asteroid Bennu showed space-delivered organics, but this is the first direct identification of a true sugar in the interstellar medium. The detection strengthens the case that some ingredients for life are produced in molecular clouds and could seed forming planetary systems.
