In an unprecedented discovery, an international team has for the first time detected a type of sugar in space between stars, near the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This discovery supports the hypothesis that some of life’s basic components may have reached Earth via asteroids and meteors billions of years ago.

The discovered sugar is erythrulose, a compound naturally found in certain types of berries and also used in cosmetics. However, its scientific significance goes beyond everyday uses; it is the first sugar to be discovered outside the solar system.

The discovery was made within a molecular cloud known as G+0.693−0.027 near the center of the galaxy, an area rich in complex chemical molecules. The researchers used radio telescopes to analyze the signals coming from it, in an attempt to expand the list of known molecules in space, which includes more than 340 compounds.

Scientists had expected to find simpler sugars composed of three carbon atoms; however, erythrulose, which contains four carbon atoms, was the only one whose chemical signature could be clearly detected.

Chemical models suggest that this sugar forms on the surface of interstellar dust particles from simpler molecules, indicating that space is capable of producing organic compounds more complex than previously thought.

Researchers have explained in a study published in Nature Astronomy that erythrulose sugar is formed on the surface of microscopic dust particles in space, as a result of the reaction between two organic compounds: glycolaldehyde and ethylene glycol, which are spread throughout some areas of the universe. What’s more exciting is that these chemical reactions occur in an extremely cold environment with temperatures reaching about 250 degrees Celsius below zero.

Erythrulose is also the largest non-ring organic molecule discovered so far in interstellar space, which raises the level of known chemical complexity in space and enhances the likelihood of other molecules related to the origin of life, according to The Guardian newspaper.

Dr. Izaskun Jiménez-Serra from the Center for Astrobiology in Spain said: “This is the first sugar discovered in interstellar space, and it suggests that these compounds may be more common than we thought, opening up the possibility of life evolving on other worlds in a way similar to Earth.

Professor Yoshihiro Furukawa from Tohoku University in Japan, who previously discovered sugars in samples from the asteroid Bennu, said this discovery was long awaited. He explained that sugars formed in interstellar space may be transported to Earth and other planets through cometary dust, and perhaps contributed to providing components that helped life originate, although the precise mechanism by which these molecules turn into living systems is still not fully understood.

Researchers believe that the Earth was extremely hot at its beginning, to a degree that did not allow organic molecules to survive. Therefore, some of life’s basic building blocks may have come from space, carried by asteroids after the surface cooled down.

In aquatic environments, erythrulose can be converted into other types of sugars, providing a diverse range of compounds that may have helped initiate the first biological reactions on our planet.