“Scientists for the first time have found a complex organic molecule in space that bears the same asymmetric structure as molecules that are key to life on Earth.
“The researchers said on Tuesday they detected the complex organic molecule called propylene oxide in a giant cloud of gas and dust near the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
“Akin to a pair of human hands, certain organic molecules including propylene oxide possess mirror-like versions of themselves, a chemical property called chirality.
“Scientists have long pondered why living things make use of only one version of certain molecules, such as the “right-handed” form of the sugar ribose, which is the backbone of DNA.
“The discovery of propylene oxide in space boosts theories that chirality has cosmic origins.”
Read more at Reuters
