A complete set of canonical nucleobases in asteroid Ryugu demonstrates their prevalence in carbonaceous asteroids

A complete set of canonical nucleobases in asteroid Ryugu demonstrates their prevalence in carbonaceous asteroids | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A complete set of canonical nucleobases in asteroid Ryugu demonstrates their prevalence in carbonaceous asteroids Toshiki Koga, Yasuhiro Oba, Yoshinori Takano, Hiroshi Naraoka, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7071403/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Astronomy → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Organic molecules delivered from extraterrestrial materials may have played a key role in supplying building blocks for life on Earth. Here we report the detection of all five canonical nucleobases—adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil—in samples returned from the C-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu by JAXA’s Hayabusa2 mission. The definitive identification of a complete set of nucleobases in carbonaceous asteroid samples—following detection in Bennu—strongly suggests that these essential components of DNA and RNA are widespread throughout the Solar System. Comparative analysis with Bennu and the Orgueil meteorite shows purine and pyrimidine abundances vary and correlate with ammonia concentrations, linking to physicochemical environments of their parent bodies and providing new insights into extraterrestrial nucleobase formation pathways. The identification of diverse nucleobases in asteroidal and meteoritic materials reinforces the hypothesis that carbonaceous asteroids contributed to the prebiotic chemical inventory of early Earth. Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Astrobiology Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Asteroids, comets and Kuiper belt Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Astronomy → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7071403","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":497620597,"identity":"36d5d4d6-7468-44f5-b3ca-ae846576a313","order_by":0,"name":"Toshiki Koga","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFElEQVRIie2RMUvEMBiGvxBol0DXLyD4FyIHvRMO+1ciB7o4CC4dRAThuhRdb/cXuDgHCr0l4FrI0lsyOZwoRycxhyd2iXUUzDN9vOQheb8ABAJ/kwikQuEG0mIvpr7zrKdQgZ/JLxRQsFUihJ7iJYsL27Z6MkqSe5tPLh+zLL5pyVsO8dh3C9NjIRtM+cKmDdbmuGS1oHsa6OG1R8GzCOUap6JRTomMdAlQPnfNlE85tTtluTnHd5Ox/echRaa4fZh4KlPgc0NKZEBeflK0dorGEV+wC+S3ros+ERVo9HaJi8Lyrr46uEuWD6+4MW6F1WrV5dOZb2PfoAT69fsVA5yJQSVRQNa7mXQAR8NKIBAI/BM+AClCV63n+g18AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5728-0590","institution":"Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Toshiki","middleName":"","lastName":"Koga","suffix":""},{"id":497620598,"identity":"0b73e724-d9aa-478f-adab-81f61b2132e2","order_by":1,"name":"Yasuhiro Oba","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6852-3604","institution":"Hokkaido University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yasuhiro","middleName":"","lastName":"Oba","suffix":""},{"id":497620599,"identity":"8308bd0d-1991-432a-a30a-3267e36b152f","order_by":2,"name":"Yoshinori Takano","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1151-144X","institution":"JAMSTEC","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yoshinori","middleName":"","lastName":"Takano","suffix":""},{"id":497620600,"identity":"e5789fd9-75f7-4192-990e-cf5314f387dc","order_by":3,"name":"Hiroshi Naraoka","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2373-8759","institution":"Kyusyu University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hiroshi","middleName":"","lastName":"Naraoka","suffix":""},{"id":497620601,"identity":"3607a1ae-fd49-4d6b-9098-ba1f36d6b318","order_by":4,"name":"Nanako Ogawa","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3823-6444","institution":"Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nanako","middleName":"","lastName":"Ogawa","suffix":""},{"id":497620602,"identity":"58bc71ec-e581-48f9-abb2-c1fe981b35ff","order_by":5,"name":"Kazunori Sasaki","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Human Metabolome Technologies Inc. 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