A review of evidence for biological material in meteorites

The first carbonaceous chondrite fell in France in 1806, and in the years following analyses for organic matter were made which showed this material to be similar to material of biological origin. But the analyses were not conclusive. Within the last few years, additional work has been done which has proved to be very interesting and somewhat controversial. The composition of the inorganic fraction of these objects is very similar to that of other meteorites, showing that no sorting by sedimentary processes has occurred. For this reason, students of meteorites have believed that the material could not be biological. However, the soluble constituents are similar to those to be expected in a primitive ocean of the earth. Some of the assumed fossils have been shown to be contaminants but others appear to be indigenous. After mineral matters are removed from them they still show evidence of containing carbonaceous material. Micro-paleontologists have also reported material which they believe to be similar to terrestrial fossils. Fatty acids, porphyrins, and nucleic acid bases have been reported and a small optical activity as well. The immense difficulty that students of meteorites have in understanding this situation may be alleviated if it should be proved that some of our stone meteorites, including the carbonaceous ones, are coming from the moon. There seems to be some possibility that this could be true.