http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2...building-block

LONDON: A sugar molecule, linked to the origin of life on Earth, has been found in a distant region of the Milky Way, some 26,000 light years away.

Glycolaldehyde can react with propenal to form ribose, an important ingredient in RNA and DNA – the basic units of life. The molecule has been detected in deep space before, but only in regions too extreme to nurture life, such as the cold and sparse galactic centre, said Viti.