Sugar Between the Stars

Now, we talk about, you know, the beginning of life.

So when astrobiologists look for signs of life, they look for ingredients such as amino acids, lipids, and sugars.

So amino acids are the basis of proteins, lipids are fats, and of course we know sugars are, you know, we use it in our body.

It's the backbone of DNA, et cetera.

Now, sugar are the fuels of metabolism.

They, like I mentioned, they form the structural backbones of, um, RNA and DNA.

And while we've previously detected sugar-like molecules or found complex sugars locked inside meteorites and samples, you know, remember the asteroid Bennu that we've spoken about before? Um, well, we've never actually spotted a true sugar floating out there in space.

Now, the one that they're talking about is a sugar called erythrulose.

So on Earth, i- it's a natural sugar, and it's actually found in raspberries, okay? It doesn't mean there's raspberries floating out in space, but you know, we haven't spotted that yet.

You ruined my image.

[laughs]

So we don't know.

We don't know.

Yeah.

Okay.

[laughs]

There's a raspberry out there somewhere.

I think so, yeah.

There could be.

There's one.

Yep.

There could be.

Yep.