Life on Earth arose about as soon as it was possible for life to arise

[dipsydoodle]

26. Unless..............

Vitamin B3 came to earth through asteroids

A new study has found that asteroids may have delivered vitamin B3 to Earth during early days of the planet. The findings of the study support the idea that extraterrestrial molecules played an important role in spawning life on earth.

"It is always difficult to put a value on the connection between meteorites and the origin of life; for example, earlier work has shown that vitamin B3 could have been produced non-biologically on ancient Earth, but it's possible that an added source of vitamin B3 could have been helpful," Karen Smith of Pennsylvania State University, said in a NASA news release. "Vitamin B3, also called nicotinic acid or niacin, is a precursor to NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), which is essential to metabolism and likely very ancient in origin."

The researchers analyzed at samples of "eight different carbon-rich meteorites," the news release reported. These objects are called "CM-2 type carbonaceous chondrites".

http://www.delhidailynews.com/news/Vitamin-B3-came-to-earth-through-asteroids-1398010535/