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A crucial building block of life exists on the asteroid Ryugu

Uracil, a component of RNA, was found in a sample collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft

A photo take of the asteroid Ryugu. A light gray circular shape in the center on a deep black background.

One of life's crucial building blocks has been identified on the asteroid Ryugu, shown in the photo taken by Japan's spacecraft Hayabusa2.

Hayabusa 2/JAXA

By Allison Gasparini

Uracil, a building block of life, has been found on the asteroid Ryugu.

Yasuhiro Oba and colleagues discovered the precursor to life in samples collected from the asteroid and returned to Earth by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft, the team reports March 21 in Nature Communications.