Sandford and 15 co-authors reported in December 2025 that nitrogen-containing organic compounds play key biological roles, and their identification in primitive astromaterials such as meteorites can shed light on the origin of life. However, meteorites are typically contaminated by uncontrolled exposure to Earth.
The caption for the graphic above provides the electron microscopy of Particle 2:
a, STEM high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) + EDS image of Particle 2. A nitrogenous vein (green) is sandwiched between phyllosilicate regions (purple). A circular region shows the location of a selected area electron diffraction acquisition shown in b. The Pt and Si deposition and redeposition layers were created during the FIB processing.
b, Selected area electron diffraction shows that the nitrogenous vein is amorphous.
c, SEM backscatter plus EDS view of the larger particle before the FIB section was extracted. The substrate is diamond; only N was used for the green channel. The line shows the location of the FIB liftout; the dashed portion of the line is outside the field of view in a. d, EDS spectrum of the CNO peaks of the organic phase along with the fit used for quantification. dep, deposition; redep, redeposition.
The authors show that pristine samples returned from asteroid Bennu contain polymeric organics exceptionally rich in nitrogen and oxygen. These polymers contain a variety of functional groups including amines, amides, N-heterocycles, and aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, among others. They are seen in a carbonaceous vein with mineral inclusions and in multilayered organic sheets.
Their morphology and composition indicate formation from pre-aqueous N-rich precursors and later modification during aqueous alteration. These findings demonstrate that asteroids like Bennu contain complex nitrogen-rich organic phases formed by pre-aqueous and aqueous processes, and they expand the known inventory of potential prebiotic extraterrestrial compounds.
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