In a discovery challenging long-standing hypothesis about how life began, astronomers using the ALMA telescope detected complex organic molecules, including key components of amino acids and DNA precursors, in discs formed by distant young planets.
The tentative detection of ethylene glycol and glycine around V883 Orionis (1,300 light years in Orion) around V883 Orionis shows that the necessary basis of life may have been formed before the planets and is common throughout the Milky Way.
Signs of prebiotic chemistry in young stellar systems
An international research team led by Abubakar Fadul of the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy uses Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) to search for weak radio signals from complex organic molecules (COMs). These molecules contain more than five atoms and at least one carbon atom – putting them in the list of possible precursors for life.
On the disc near the V883 Orionis, they determined:
- Ethylene glycol (sugar and alcohol)
- Sugarolefins (potential precursors of amino acids and nucleobases)
- Transitions between 15 ethylene glycols and 6 ethylene glycols
“Our findings point to a range of chemical enrichment and increased complexity between interstellar clouds and fully evolved planetary systems,” Fadul said.
From celebrity nurseries to potentially habitable planets
This is not the first time COM has been found in space. But V883 Orionis represents a critical phase of evolution: the transition from primitive stars to young stars surrounded by discs that the planet eventually forms. Earlier models assume that violent energy and radiation during this transition will disrupt any complex chemical reaction from the early stages.
“It seems the opposite now,” said co-author Kamber Schwarz. “Our results show that the protozoa inherits complex molecules from an earlier stage, and the formation of complex molecules can continue to form during the protozoa stage.”
The freezing clue was unlocked by the star burst
Much of this chemistry occurs in the cold dust in deep space. However, it is difficult to detect these molecules unless something disturbs the ice. In the case of V883 Orionis, energy suddenly appeared in the heating portion of the surrounding disk, causing the ice to evaporate and release the COM into the gas phase that Alma can detect.
“Complex molecules, including ethylene glycol and glycine enes, radiate at radio frequencies. Alma is perfect for detecting these signals,” Schwarz explained.
Chemistry hints about life elsewhere
The presence of these molecules in a young, still forming star system enhances the common and prevalent situation of life components. Ethylene glycol and sugar glycine nitrates have been seen before in star-shaped clouds and cometary materials, but have never been in the intervertebral discs that form planets.
“This further suggests that the original sphere disk inherits complex molecules from the original envelope and that COM formation can continue during the original disk phase,” the researchers wrote.
Find more clues and more molecules
Although there are currently detections, the team is confident in their spectral analysis and has planned to confirm these findings with higher resolution follow-up observations. They also hope to discover more chemically developed species.
“We still haven’t untangled all the signatures we found in the spectrum,” Schwarz said. “Maybe we need to look at other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum to find more evolved molecules,” Fadul added.
The cosmic origin of biology?
This study adds a new chapter to the growing story: The components of life may not be unique to Earth and our solar system. If complex organics could tolerate the most severe transitions in star evolution and sow the formation of planets, biology could span the universe.
This is a provocative idea. Are we made in some basic way of doing so from molecules that were born on ice very early before our planet formed?
Journal Reference
Magazine: Astrophysical Diary Letter
title: Search for ethylene glycol and glycine in V883 ORI Protoplanetary disk
author: Abubakar Ma Fadul et al.
doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/adec6e
release: July 24, 2025
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