Bennu Asteroid Reveals New Insights on Life's Origins

Amino acids, the building blocks of life, were found in samples from the 4.6-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu.

Published on Feb. 10, 2026

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

Researchers from Pennsylvania State University have discovered that the amino acids found in samples from the asteroid Bennu likely formed in the harsh, icy-cold and radioactive conditions of the early solar system, rather than in the presence of warm liquid water as previously thought. This suggests there are more diverse pathways and conditions in which the building blocks of life can form.

Why it matters

The findings from the analysis of the Bennu asteroid samples challenge the conventional understanding of how amino acids, the molecules that create proteins and peptides in DNA, can form. This provides new insights into the origins of life and the potential for life to exist in other extreme environments beyond Earth.

The details

The research team used custom instruments to measure isotopes, or slight variations in the mass of atoms, in a precious bit of space dust no bigger than a teaspoon from the Bennu asteroid. They focused their analysis on glycine, the simplest amino acid and one of life's basic building blocks. The results suggest the amino acids in the Bennu samples likely formed in the harsh, icy-cold and radioactive conditions of the early solar system, rather than in the presence of warm liquid water as previously thought.

  • The Bennu asteroid samples were delivered to Earth in 2023 by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission.
  • The new research findings were published on February 9, 2026 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The players

Allison Baczynski

Assistant research professor of geosciences at Penn State and co-lead author on the research paper.

Pennsylvania State University

The university where the research on the Bennu asteroid samples was conducted.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“Our results flip the script on how we have typically thought amino acids formed in asteroids. It now looks like there are many conditions where these building blocks of life can form, not just when there's warm liquid water. Our analysis showed that there's much more diversity in the pathways and conditions in which these amino acids can be formed.”

— Allison Baczynski, Assistant research professor of geosciences at Penn State (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

The takeaway

The discovery that amino acids, the building blocks of life, can form in the harsh, icy-cold and radioactive conditions of the early solar system challenges the conventional understanding of how the origins of life on Earth and potentially elsewhere in the universe. This suggests there may be more diverse pathways and environments where the fundamental molecules of life can emerge.