For the first while in history, astronomers have discovered a sugar molecule floating between gas clouds of star position.
Erythrulose has four carbon atoms, and on earth, it occurs naturally in some fruits. Its presence 26,000 light-years away may help solve the mystery of the origin of life on our planet.
The study was published this week in Natural Astronomy. The team, led by Izaskun Jiménez Serra, analyzed data captured by radio telescopes in Spain to identify the molecular signature in the microwave frequencies it produces as it spins.
Sugar molecules are essential for life. They stimulate cells and are part of RNA and DNA. Yet scientists still don’t know how they accumulated in large enough numbers on early Earth. One possibility is that some of the molecules did not originate on the planet but reached Earth via meteors.
For the new study, the researchers focused on the molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027, a region they did not choose at random. G+0.693−0.027 is among the most densely populated regions in the entire universe. The Milky Way. It is close to a large black hole in the center of the galaxy, and collisions with another cloud seem to turn the area into a veritable chemical factory. Researchers had already discovered alcohol, aldehyde, urea, ethanolamine, hydroxylamine, and dozens of complex organic molecules. Now the sugar is in the mix.
The idea that some of the sugars may have come from space gained momentum in December 2025, when scientists confirmed that asteroid Bennu containing ribose and other monosaccharides. Ribose is the primary sugar in RNA. New research reveals another type of space sugar, this one from the ketose family. In the world, it is found in skin lotions and raspberries.
The data came from two radio telescopes located in Spain. One is at the Yebes Observatory, north-east of Madrid, while the other is at the Institute of Radio Astronomy at the Millimeter Range, which is near a ski resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
“The presence of many organic molecules in meteorites and asteroids is well known, including monosaccharides, but their origin is unknown,” Jesús R. Flores, a professor at the University of Vigo who did not participate in the study, told. Science Media Center Spain. “One obvious possibility is that they form, initially, in what is known as interstellar matter. However, until now, no true saccharide had been discovered there. Erythrulose, a four-carbon ketomonosaccharide, is the first.”
