Samples From Near-Earth Asteroid , Reveal Building Blocks of Life.br CNN reports that Japan's Hayabusa2 mission br has detected organic molecules in samples br collected from near-Earth asteroid Ryugu.br According to researchers, samples taken from br two different locations on the asteroid revealed br uracil, a key element in the building blocks of RNA.br CNN explains that uracil is a nitrogen-containing br compound, otherwise known as a nucleobase, and br one of the five nucleobases found in DNA and RNA.br The samples also revealed evidence of niacin, br otherwise known as B3, which plays a critical role br in the metabolic processes of living organisms.br CNN reports that Ryugu is known br to be a carbon-rich, diamond-shaped asteroid br measuring an estimated 3,000 feet wide.br Japan's Hayabusa2 mission was br the first attempt to bring back and analyze br a subsurface sample from an asteroid. .br The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agencybr was the first to detect amino acids and other br molecules in the samples collected from Ryugu.br Scientists have previously found br nucleobases and vitamins in certain br carbon-rich meteorites, but there was br always the question of contamination br by exposure to the Earth’s environment, Yasuhiro Oba, lead study author and associate br professor at Hokkaido University in Japan, via CNN.br Since the Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected br two samples directly from asteroid Ryugu br and delivered them to Earth in sealed br capsules, contamination can be ruled out, Yasuhiro Oba, lead study author and associate br professor at Hokkaido University in Japan, via CNN.br The details of the team's br findings were published March 21 br in the journal 'Nature Communications.