Hit the jackpot… or would that be Natpoj? In the “latest issue” of Nature Astronomy (not even November… early web postings):
Nguyen, A.N. Seifert, L.B. Shimizu, K. et al. Abundant supernova dust and heterogeneous aqueous alteration revealed by stardust in two lithologies of asteroid Bennu s41550-025-02688-3
Sandford, S.A. Gainsforth, Z. Nuevo, M. et al. Nitrogen- and oxygen-rich organic material indicative of polymerization in pre-aqueous cryochemistry on Bennu’s parent body s41550-025-02694-5
And then, in the sister title Nature Geoscience:
Furukawa, Y. Sunami, S. Takano, Y. et al. Bio-essential sugars in samples from asteroid Bennu s41561-025-01838-6
In case it hadn’t been said enough: most asteroids (the unmelted ones- “primitive”) contain the preserved history of the Solar System’s formation. Some primitive ones (carbonaceous chondrites) preserve a history of life, via organic chemicals, water, critical minerals and elements, substrates, etc. Here, groups that had been allocated samples of asteroids (Bennu, but also Ryugu for comparison) report their findings. Critical life ingredients are found in bodies like Bennu, and likely Ryugu. (The Ryugu sample, at just 5.4 grams, is a bit precious for exhaustive studies like organic detections.)
All life as we know it needs water, and that was reported almost immediately. All life as we know it needs DNA/RNA; and all of those nucleobases have been found. That DNA/RNA, as well as proteins, need nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, etc. and those are present too. All life as we know it needs sugars, which cannot simply be assumed from the same building blocks as the DNA/RNA. Now, Furukawa et al. report those sugars too… and the papers are even open access!
(These precursor organics had been, to various extents, seen in meteorites- the carbonaceous chondrites. However, all meteorites by definition get exposed to Earth air, water, dirt, etc. Therefore, we can never truly be sure we’re detecting cosmic chemistries, and not Earth contaminants, especially at the low concentrations here. But the Ryugu sample was hermetically sealed, and only opened in a controlled lab environment. The larger OSIRIS-REx capsule was not so perfectly enclosed, but we know the circumstances of its vent and its landing conditions- minimal air got into the Bennu container.)
Carbonaceous chondrites- truly, “we went to the right asteroid”.