An important discovery has been made with respect to the possible inventory of molecules available to the early Earth. Scientists led by Sandra Pizzarello, a research professor at Arizona State University, found large amounts of ammonia in a primitive Antarctic asteroid. This high concentration of ammonia could account for a sustained source of reduced nitrogen essential to the chemistry of life.
The finding of a high concentration of nitrogen-bearing molecules in an asteroidal environment shown by the new study is very provocative. Besides the noble gases, nitrogen is the fourth most abundant element in the Sun and the universe overall. On the Earth, it is an indispensable ingredient of the biosphere, being essential to DNA, RNA and proteins, i.e., it is necessary for life's information transfer and catalytic processes.
"All origins-of-life theories need to account for a sustained source of reduced nitrogen, in order to make amino acids and nucleobases.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110302091646.html
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