https://www.wsj.com/science/space-astronomy/bennu-asteroid-essential-life-materials-nasa-8f23396c?mod=science_feat1_space-astronomy_pos1

This mineral-rich asteroid might have
carried the seeds of life.

Planetary scientists have discovered
organic matter essential to life in dust
and rock retrieved from an asteroid known
as Bennu. The finding supports the theory
that near-Earth asteroids, like Bennu,
seeded life on Earth.

Researchers found 14 of the 20 amino
acids that make up proteins and all five
molecules that comprise DNA and RNA in
mineral deposits of salty brine left on
Bennu’s surface, according to two papers
published Wednesday.

The finding means that the chemical
building blocks of life could have come
from the far reaches of our solar system
and then landed on a hospitable planet
or moon, said Tim McCoy, curator of
meteorites at the Smithsonian
Institution’s Museum of Natural History
who examined the Bennu sample and is
first author of the paper published in
the journal Nature.

“We’re talking about the earliest steps
that lead towards life,” McCoy said.

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