NASA Finds Tryptophan, a Life-Related Molecule, on Asteroid Bennu

Molecule Vital to Happiness Found in Material From Asteroid Bennu

A critical nutrient used to produce the neurotransmitter serotonin may have turned up in samples collected from asteroid Bennu by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. Tryptophan is one of the nine essential amino acids that the human body cannot make on its own, and, if confirmed, its detection in Bennu by researchers from NASA and the University of Arizona would mark the first time it has ever been found in an extraterrestrial sample. It's a discovery th…

Scientists find evidence that an asteroid contains tryptophan

Tryptophan, the essential amino acid behind the Thanksgiving myth that eating turkey can make you sleepy, has been found to exist on Bennu, a small asteroid that swings by our planet about every six years.

Scientists found tryptophan, the ‘sleepy’ amino acid, in an asteroid — Here’s what it means

Tryptophan, the essential amino acid behind the Thanksgiving myth that eating turkey can make you sleepy, has been found to exist on Bennu, a small asteroid that swings by our planet about every six years.

Scientists found tryptophan, the ‘sleepy’ amino acid, in an asteroid — Here’s what it means

Tryptophan has been found to exist on Bennu, a small asteroid that swings by our planet about every six years.

Scientists found tryptophan, the ‘sleepy’ amino acid, in an asteroid — Here’s what it means

Tryptophan, the essential amino acid behind the Thanksgiving myth that eating turkey can make you sleepy, has been found to exist on Bennu, a small asteroid that swings by our planet about every six years.

Scientists found tryptophan, the ‘sleepy’ amino acid, in an asteroid — Here’s what it means

Tryptophan, the essential amino acid behind the Thanksgiving myth that eating turkey can make you sleepy, has been found to exist on Bennu, a small asteroid that swings by our planet about every six years.