A sugar molecule that's linked to the origin of life has been detected in a region of our galaxy where habitable planets could exist. The sweet find is good news in the search for alien life, the researchers say.
Called glycolaldehyde, the sugar molecule is considered a life ingredient because it can react with a substance called propenal to form ribose, a central constituent of ribonucleic acid (RNA), which is similar to DNA and considered one of the central molecules in the origin of life.
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