Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

Asteroid Ryugu Samples Contain DNA Building Blocks, Researchers Say

3/22/2026

36 7 Full Breakdown

Summary

Researchers Discover Nucleobases

Researchers from Japan report Hayabusa2 spacecraft samples from asteroid Ryugu containing the five building blocks of DNA and RNA.
The findings suggest these nucleobases show how life’s ingredients may have reached Earth.
Lead author Toshiki Koga clarifies the results do not imply life existed on Ryugu.
The study also addresses prior work that failed to detect these bases in Ryugu, highlighting ongoing exploration of life’s origins.

Summary

Hubble Observes Fragmenting Comet

The Hubble Space Telescope images show Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) breaking up as it left the solar system in November 2025.
Researchers switched targets after technical issues, abandoning their original observation plan for a different comet.
They captured three images between November 8 and 10, 2025, shortly after fragmentation began.
John Noonan of Auburn University notes this is the closest observation of a fragmenting comet ever recorded.

1 of 2

Researchers Discover Nucleobases

Researchers from Japan report Hayabusa2 spacecraft samples from asteroid Ryugu containing the five building blocks of DNA and RNA.
The findings suggest these nucleobases show how life’s ingredients may have reached Earth.
Lead author Toshiki Koga clarifies the results do not imply life existed on Ryugu.
The study also addresses prior work that failed to detect these bases in Ryugu, highlighting ongoing exploration of life’s origins.

1 / 2