科學家發(fā)現(xiàn)了第一種外星蛋白質

科學家發(fā)現(xiàn)了第一種外星蛋白質

Scientists say they have discovered the first known protein that originated in space, located in a meteorite that fell to Earth 30 years ago.

科學家表示，他們在30年前墜落到地球的隕石中，發(fā)現(xiàn)了首個已知的起源于太空的蛋白質。

The meteorite, known as Acfer 086, hit Algeria 30 years ago and contains the protein hemolithin. Inside the hemolithin are iron and lithium, two building blocks for life, the researchers said in the study located on the arXiv repository.

這顆隕石名為Acfer 086，30年前襲擊阿爾及利亞，含有血石蛋白。研究人員在位于arXiv儲存庫的研究中說，血石中含有鐵和鋰，這是生命的兩種基本元素。

“Analysis of the complete spectrum of isotopes associated with each molecular fragment shows 2H enhancements above terrestrial averaging 25,700 parts per thousand (sigma = 3,500, n=15), confirming extra-terrestrial origin and hence the existence of this molecule within the asteroid parent body of the CV3 meteorite class,” the study’s abstract states. “The molecule is tipped by an iron-oxygen-iron grouping that in other terrestrial contexts has been proposed to be capable of absorbing photons and splitting water into hydroxyl and hydrogen moieties.”

“對與每個分子碎片相關的同位素全譜的分析表明，在地球平均每千25700個部分(sigma=3500，n=15)之上增加了2個小時，證實了地球外的起源，從而證實了這一分子在CV3隕石類小行星母體中的存在，“研究的抽象狀態(tài)。“該分子由鐵-氧-鐵組合而成，在其他地球環(huán)境中，該組合被認為能夠吸收光子并將水分解為羥基和氫部分。”

Acfer 086 was discovered in 1990 and has a mass of 173 grams, according to The Meteorological Society.

根據(jù)氣象學會的數(shù)據(jù)，Acfer 086于1990年被發(fā)現(xiàn)，質量為173克。

In an interview with ScienceAlert, astronomer and chemist Chenoa Tremblay said it’s believed that proteins are “likely to exist in space,” but this would be the first evidence of such.

天文學家和化學家Chenoa Tremblay在接受ScienceAlert的采訪時說，人們認為蛋白質“可能存在于太空中”，但這將是這方面的第一個證據(jù)。

“So we’re pretty sure that proteins are likely to exist in space,” Tremblay, who was not involved in the study, told ScienceAlert. “But if we can actually start finding evidence of their existence and what some of the structures and the common structures might be, I think that’s really interesting and exciting.”

“所以我們很確定蛋白質很可能存在于太空中，”沒有參與這項研究的特雷姆布雷告訴《科學快訊》。“但如果我們真的能找到它們存在的證據(jù)，以及其中一些結構和常見結構可能是什么，我認為這真的很有趣，也很令人興奮。”

Because the hemolithin in Acfer 086 has a similar structure to proteins on Earth and its ratio of hydrogen to isotope deterium is similar to that seen in the Oort cloud, it’s believed it could have formed nearly 4.6 billion years ago, in the proto-solar disk, the Daily Mail reports.

據(jù)英國《每日郵報》報道，由于Acfer 086中的血石具有與地球上蛋白質相似的結構，其氫同位素測定值與奧爾特云中的相似，因此人們認為它可能是在46億年前的原太陽盤中形成的。

A study was published in October 2019 that suggested the second interstellar object ever discovered, Comet 2I/Borisov, could be carrying water on it from beyond the solar system, releasing water vapor on its journey.

2019年10月發(fā)表的一項研究表明，迄今發(fā)現(xiàn)的第二顆星際物體2I/Borisov彗星可能攜帶著太陽系以外的水，在其旅程中釋放出水蒸氣。

A separate study published in 2018 suggested that cometlike objects could be “ferrying” microbial life across thousands of light-years.

2018年發(fā)表的另一項研究表明，彗星狀物體可能在數(shù)千光年內“運送”微生物生命。