Astronomers have detected erythrulose, a four-carbon sugar, in a massive dust cloud near the center of the Milky Way. This discovery, reported by researchers using Spanish radio telescopes, provides new evidence that essential organic building blocks for life can form in the extreme cold of interstellar space.
Detecting Erythrulose in G+0.693-0.027
Scientists identified the sugar within a dense, cold dust cloud designated G+0.693-0.027, located near the galactic center. While researchers had previously searched for smaller, three-carbon sugars in the region without success, the detection of this four-carbon molecule marks a significant step in understanding prebiotic chemistry.
The discovery was unexpected; the researcher noted that after failing to find simpler sugars, the team was not optimistic about identifying more complex ones. To my surprise, I saw the signals,
said Izaskun Jiménez-Serra of Spain’s Centre for Astrobiology.
Chemical Formation in Frigid Conditions
The presence of erythrulose in space challenges previous assumptions about where and how life’s building blocks originate. Laboratory studies had historically struggled to explain how simple sugars could become abundant on the young Earth, as conditions there were not always conducive to their formation. The new findings suggest an extraterrestrial supply chain.
For more on this story, see Astronomers Discover ‘Raspberry Sugar’ in Milky Way Dust Cloud.
The research, published in Nature Astronomy, describes how the sugar forms on microscopic dust grains. Even at temperatures hovering around -250C, two other organic compounds—glycolaldehyde and ethylene glycol—combine to synthesize erythrulose. This process indicates that complex chemical reactions are possible even in the deep freeze of the interstellar medium.
Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, of Spain’s Centre for Astrobiology, noted that the detection of erythrulose suggests such sugars may be more common than previously thought, potentially increasing the likelihood of life developing on other worlds through similar processes to those on Earth.
This follows our earlier report, Astronomers Detect First Sugar in Space Near Milky Way’s Center.
Impact on Prebiotic Earth and Future Research
The discovery has implications for the origin of life on our own planet. Scientists estimate that millions of tonnes of these organic compounds could have arrived on Earth via comets and asteroids. This delivery of material likely enriched the planet’s early environment, providing the necessary ingredients for the first biomolecules.
Prof. Yoshihiro Furukawa, who previously identified sugars on the Bennu asteroid, emphasized the importance of this cosmic delivery system. Sugars formed in the interstellar medium can reach Earth and other planets via cometary dust … This supply may have helped facilitate the emergence of life, if planetary environments were able to build life from such molecules, although that process itself remains unclear,
Furukawa said.
Read also: Sugar Molecules Discovered Near Milky Way Hint at Origins of Life.
While erythrulose is known on Earth as a component in raspberries and fake tanning lotions—where it reacts with amino acids to create brown polymers—its role in space is purely foundational. It acts as a precursor to ribonucleotides, the building blocks of RNA. By confirming that these sugars exist in interstellar space, researchers have reinforced the theory that the chemical seeds of life are widely distributed across the galaxy, waiting to be delivered to hospitable planetary environments.