Detected in the space complex vital molecule for life – Newspaper Zócalo

the molecule was found in a large cloud of dust and gas near the center of the Milky Way. Photo: B. Saxton, NRAO / AUI / NSF

[Science]

06/15/2016 – 08:03 pm

Washington, USA .- Scientists found in interstellar space a vital organic molecule for life, the most complex found so far outside our solar system, announced Tuesday.

This is a chiral molecule, non-exchangeable, like the glove on the right hand and left hand, which is an essential characteristic in biological processes.

the molecule was found in a large cloud of dust and gas near the center of the Milky Way, where they had been discovered so far most of the more than 180 molecules.

the origin of life through Breaking Bad

Before becoming Heisenberg, professor Walter White taught at the Breaking Bad series. In one of his lectures, the teacher went over the concept of chirality explaining that, if we look at our hands, we see that are almost equal, but not superimposable. This property is also seen in the world of chemistry. Known as chiral molecules are those that can be “right-handed” and “left-handed” at the same time.

The discovery of the first chiral molecule in interstellar space, published in the journal Science, opens the door to understanding some fundamental characteristics that explain life on Earth.

the team of scientists used extremely sensitive radio telescopes to determine propylene oxide in the gas and dust cloud Sagittarius B2. “It is the first molecule detected in the interstellar space has the property of chirality, a leap forward pioneer in understanding how prebiotic molecules are produced in the universe and the effects it could have on the origin of life” says Brett McGuire, chemist National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). “Propylene oxide is one of the most complex molecules found so far in space,” adds Brandon Carroll of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

The property that explained Walter White

the discovery of the first chiral molecule in space is an important step in the field of astrochemistry advance. Hipertextual explains to Dr. Jose Cernicharo, researcher at the Institute of Materials Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), “Propylene oxide is a new molecule derived from a molecular compound previously detected in space, the oxirane CH2OCH2, which is cyclical a molecule “. The particular chiral molecule now is obtained by replacing one of the hydrogens of the methyl oxirane by a CH3 group, which is what gives it the property of chirality. In the words of Cernicharo, “it is an interesting result that shows the enormous chemical complexity in space”.

To date have been observed more than 180 molecules in space. However, none of these had chirality, a feature that allows equal in physical and chemical properties of molecules, present a different behavior in polarized light. Thus it is possible to distinguish two types of enantiomers, which popularly be called “right-handed” and “left-handed”. The optical characteristics of a chiral molecule are, contrary to what we might think, very important.

thalidomide, as explained Walter White in Breaking Bad, shows the importance of chirality in our daily lives. During the sixties a mixture of enantiomers was marketed without knowing how “right hand” was a teratogen, ie produced malformations in newborns. In the case of one of the most used drugs for Parkinson’s, levodopa, can only be given the “left-handed” type, since the opposite form is biologically inactive. Finally, the amino acids that are part of our proteins, for example, are “lefties”.

The detection of this first chiral molecule is an important step to characterize and determine how these structures are built and what is its abundance of space. In view Cernicharo, “it is still premature to draw conclusions about the role that this molecule may play in prebiotic chemistry.” All we can say, taking into account the conclusions of the work in Science, “is that the material forming protoplanetary disks around newly formed stars, there are a lot of important molecular species in prebiotic chemistry.” Propylene oxide has detected a small abundance, so we need more studies to understand the impact that could have astrobiology propylene oxide or methyl oxirane. The “right-handed” or “left-handed” molecules that explained Walter White out of his kind of fiction to reach space. The memory of this series, which also helped us to learn about the science of morals or history of poisons, returns strongly with this peculiar discovery.

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