SEEDING THE PREGENETIC EARTH: METEORITIC ABUNDANCES OF NUCLEOBASES AND POTENTIAL REACTION PATHWAYS

Carbonaceous chondrites are a class of meteorite known for having high contents of water and organics. In this study, the abundances of the nucleobases, i.e., the building blocks of RNA and DNA, found in carbonaceous chondrites are collated from a variety of published data and compared across various meteorite classes. An extensive review of abiotic chemical reactions producing nucleobases is then performed. These reactions are then reduced to …