First detected protein in meteorite

Acfer 086 meteorite found in Algeria was used by scientists using new analytical techniques, first found a protein in outer space.

A new discovery could be the focal point for researchers to search for life elsewhere in the Solar System. The team led by physicist Malcolm McGeoch working at the PLEX Corporation superconducting X-ray source center has conducted a review of meteorites that have fallen to Earth recently to look for evidence of alien life. Using mass spectrometry, they found the protein inside an Acfer 086 meteor found 30 years ago.

"The scientific team has modified previous research techniques to increase the ability to detect amino acids inside preserved meteorites , " said Chenoa Tremblay, a scientist at Curtin University in Australia.

A meteorite during the peak of the Leonid meteor shower of 2009. (Image: Navicore)

Over the past few years, meteorites from the solar system have helped scientists gain a better understanding of the traces of life in outer space.Cyanide can play a role in building molecules necessary for life; Ribose is a sugar found in RNA and amino acids, organic compounds that combine to form proteins.

The team not only found that the amino acid glycine had a stronger signal than the previous analysis, but also found that it was bound to other elements like iron and lithium. When they performed modeling to see what was going on, they found that glycine was not isolated and was part of the protein. The scientists call the newly discovered protein called hemolithin protein . They are similar in structure to proteins on Earth but the deuterium isotope is not the kind that occurs in nature.

Mass spectrometry measurements detected protein inside an asteroid Acfer 086. (Image: H.RAAB)

In addition, the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen coincides with many other meteorites previously discovered. This suggests that structures identified as extraterrestrial proteins may have formed in proto-solar discs more than 4.6 billion years ago. However, some scientists have suggested that what is found in the meteorite Acfer 086 may not be a protein, most likely a broad molecular polymer, of which the protein is only a part.

The next step could be to take the spectrum and use modeling software to try to recreate similar spectral-generating structures that help determine whether it's a protein or a polymer. Previously, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) created proteins in the universe using zero gravity. They created nitrogen molecules large and stable enough to carry back to Earth.

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