First four-carbon sugar erythrulose detected in interstellar space near Galactic Center
A four-carbon sugar has been detected in interstellar space for the first time. Astronomers found erythrulose in a gas cloud near the Galactic Center using the Yebes 40m and IRAM 30m radio telescopes. In liquid water it can convert into threose, a relative of the sugar in DNA's b
For the first time, astronomers have detected a four-carbon sugar drifting in interstellar space. Using the Yebes 40m and IRAM 30m radio telescopes, a research team identified erythrulose in the molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027 near the center of our galaxy. The molecule turned up at least eight times more abundant than the simpler three-carbon sugars that ultrasensitive searches have so far failed to find. The detail that matters for the origins of life: erythrulose is a ketose sugar, and in the presence of liquid water these readily transform into aldose sugars such as threose. Threose is a close structural relative of the sugar that forms the backbone of genetic molecules. The finding points to a chemical pathway leading from simple molecules in cold space toward the building blocks of biology. Quantum-chemical and astrochemical models in the study indicate erythrulose assembles on the icy surfaces of interstellar dust grains, built up from two-carbon aldehydes and alcohols. The work was posted to arXiv and reported by Universe Today. Sources: arXiv (2606.03313), Universe Today.