Scientists have identified a sugar molecule drifting through the vast expanses between stars.
It is a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how life's building blocks form in the cosmos.
The compound, known as erythrulose, is the same substance found in raspberries and commonly used in self-tanning products.
Researchers detected this sweet molecule within the interstellar medium — the sparse clouds of gas and dust that occupy the regions separating stars — close to the galactic core of the Milky Way.
The findings, published on Monday in Nature Astronomy, emerged from observations made using a pair of dish-shaped radio telescopes located in Spain.
To confirm the presence of erythrulose, the research team matched signals captured by their telescopes against samples analysed in laboratory conditions.
This particular sugar ranks among the most intricate molecular structures ever observed in interstellar space, according to Erika Hamden, an astrophysicist at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the study.
She described it as "a pristine example of the stuff that's just floating out in the galaxy".
Whilst erythrulose itself is not considered vital for biological processes, it readily transforms into another form believed to have been instrumental in sparking life on our planet.
The discovery adds weight to the theory essential components for life were already present in the material that eventually formed our solar system, rather than being delivered later by comets or asteroids.
Scientists now intend to hunt for additional sugars in space and investigate how these molecules transform between different configurations.
Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, an astrophysicist at the Centre for Astrobiology in Spain and one of the study's authors, noted detecting such molecules in one location suggests they likely exist in far-flung regions of the galaxy too.
"The key ingredients for the origin of life could be present in other regions across the galaxy, opening the possibility for life to develop elsewhere in the universe," she said.
