Key sugar needed for life could have formed in space

RNA’s ribose found in interstellar ices made in lab

the Carina Nebula

SPACE SUGAR  Ribose, the sugar in RNA, might form on ice grains irradiated by ultraviolet light in stellar nurseries such as the Carina Nebula, one part of which is seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image.

NASA, ESA, M. Livio, Hubble 20th Anniversary Team/STScI

Joni Mitchell was right: We are stardust.