Pristine material from asteroid sample-return missions can provide information to assess whether the chemistry of specific asteroids could have supported life on Earth. Here, the authors use metabolic network expansion to test the viability of contrasted biochemical networks on the known chemistry of three asteroids (Itokawa, Ryugu, Bennu) and two meteorites (Murchison, Murray), showing that acetogenic and methanogenic metabolisms could be viable on the chemistry of Murchison and Bennu, whereas Murray, Ryugu and Itokawa samples lack critical substrates such as adenine and D-ribose needed for ATP production.
- Theresa Fisher
- Regis Ferriere
