Overview
- The detection, reported in Nature Astronomy on Monday, July 13, identifies eritrulose in the molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027 near the Milky Way’s center using data from the Yebes 40 m and IRAM 30 m radio telescopes.
- The team matched 12 distinct rotational spectral lines measured in the lab at the Universidad del País Vasco to signals in the cloud, which the authors say provide the strongest current evidence for an interstellar sugar.
- Authors propose a formation route on icy dust grains where simpler two‑carbon molecules (alcohols and aldehydes) combine to make eritrulose, a pathway that challenges simple stepwise carbon‑addition models.
- Using the measured abundance in that cloud, the study estimates between 0.5 million and 50 million tonnes of eritrulose could have been delivered to early Earth during the Late Heavy Bombardment, though that scenario remains debated.
- The discovery expands known prebiotic chemistry in space but does not indicate life; immediate next steps are independent confirmations, wider searches for other sugars such as ribose, and observations of other molecular clouds.