Interstellar glycine detected toward a solar-type protostar IRAS 16293-2422B

preprint OA: closed
Full text JSON View at publisher

Abstract

Abstract Amino acids, the building blocks of life, have long been sought its origin in space (1). Glycine, the simplest amino acid, has been detected on asteroids and comets within the solar system (2, 3). Experimental evidence suggests that glycine could be synthesized in the interstellar medium (ISM) before the formation of stars and planets (4, 5). However, despite numerous efforts, all previous attempts to identify glycine in the ISM have been unsuccessful (6–11). Here we report the first conclusive detection of glycine (NH2CH2COOH) beyond the solar system, identified in the hot corino surrounding the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293–2422B. A total of 19 spectral lines of glycine and its three isomers have been identified. Moreover, physical and chemical models successfully predict the presence of glycine under hot corino conditions, while its absence is noted in a shock-affected molecular cloud. Together, these results provide strong evidence that amino acids form and exist within star-forming regions.
Full text 11,176 characters · extracted from preprint-html · click to expand
Interstellar glycine detected toward a solar-type protostar IRAS 16293-2422B | 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 Physical Sciences - Article Interstellar glycine detected toward a solar-type protostar IRAS 16293-2422B Donghui Quan, Tianwei Zhang, Yang Lu, Yan Zhou, Yisheng Qiu, Jiawei Wang, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6926668/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Amino acids, the building blocks of life, have long been sought its origin in space (1). Glycine, the simplest amino acid, has been detected on asteroids and comets within the solar system (2, 3). Experimental evidence suggests that glycine could be synthesized in the interstellar medium (ISM) before the formation of stars and planets (4, 5). However, despite numerous efforts, all previous attempts to identify glycine in the ISM have been unsuccessful (6–11). Here we report the first conclusive detection of glycine (NH2CH2COOH) beyond the solar system, identified in the hot corino surrounding the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293–2422B. A total of 19 spectral lines of glycine and its three isomers have been identified. Moreover, physical and chemical models successfully predict the presence of glycine under hot corino conditions, while its absence is noted in a shock-affected molecular cloud. Together, these results provide strong evidence that amino acids form and exist within star-forming regions. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Interstellar medium Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Stellar evolution Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review 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-6926668","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":480303916,"identity":"a4f7e924-b25e-4923-8600-a4e7f868c417","order_by":0,"name":"Donghui Quan","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4811-2581","institution":"Zhejiang Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Donghui","middleName":"","lastName":"Quan","suffix":""},{"id":480303917,"identity":"60c892d3-3a86-4053-ae74-2c1e704d8e89","order_by":1,"name":"Tianwei Zhang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1466-3484","institution":"Zhejiang Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tianwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":480303918,"identity":"1889097f-37ec-4f44-add5-e71f63c9c0ba","order_by":2,"name":"Yang Lu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yang","middleName":"","lastName":"Lu","suffix":""},{"id":480303919,"identity":"c928bf8e-aec5-4ce7-8eea-7eb53785a871","order_by":3,"name":"Yan Zhou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shandong University of Aeronautics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yan","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhou","suffix":""},{"id":480303920,"identity":"36f7064b-3e19-40cb-8695-39046f8d7621","order_by":4,"name":"Yisheng Qiu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yisheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Qiu","suffix":""},{"id":480303921,"identity":"e6716b22-0260-4489-ba31-de01bde09c57","order_by":5,"name":"Jiawei Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiawei","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":480303922,"identity":"b78c9429-8222-4a25-9091-e9c998367d16","order_by":6,"name":"Baoquan Gao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Baoquan","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-19 02:11:25","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6926668/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6926668/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92947132,"identity":"9eb2a6d4-2038-4e44-871e-8a0dd8d2ae37","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-07 12:53:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3009484,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"InterstellarGlycine.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6926668/v1_covered_172aed97-8511-419b-a6ac-f95a54ff64fb.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Interstellar glycine detected toward a solar-type protostar IRAS 16293-2422B","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6926668/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6926668/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Amino acids, the building blocks of life, have long been sought its origin in space (1). Glycine, the simplest amino acid, has been detected on asteroids and comets within the solar system (2, 3). Experimental evidence suggests that glycine could be synthesized in the interstellar medium (ISM) before the formation of stars and planets (4, 5). However, despite numerous efforts, all previous attempts to identify glycine in the ISM have been unsuccessful (6–11). Here we report the first conclusive detection of glycine (NH2CH2COOH) beyond the solar system, identified in the hot corino surrounding the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293–2422B. A total of 19 spectral lines of glycine and its three isomers have been identified. Moreover, physical and chemical models successfully predict the presence of glycine under hot corino conditions, while its absence is noted in a shock-affected molecular cloud. Together, these results provide strong evidence that amino acids form and exist within star-forming regions.","manuscriptTitle":"Interstellar glycine detected toward a solar-type protostar IRAS 16293-2422B","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-07 12:13:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6926668/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-astronomy","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"natastron","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Astronomy](http://www.nature.com/natastron/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Astronomy","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Research","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"1b735882-ed00-4c04-a2f1-04999d8af411","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 7th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":51008094,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Interstellar medium"},{"id":51008095,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Stellar evolution"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-07T12:13:13+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-07 12:13:13","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6926668","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6926668","identity":"rs-6926668","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: preprint-html

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Citation neighborhood (no data yet)

We don't have any in-corpus citations linked to this paper yet. This is a recent paper (2025) — citers typically take a year or two to land, and the OpenAlex reference graph may still be filling in.

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-05-20T01:45:00.602351+00:00