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Science 19 February 1999:
Vol. 283. no. 5405, pp. 1123 - 1124
DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5405.1123
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Perspectives

ASTROPHYSICAL CHEMISTRY:
Molecules on a Space Odyssey

Pascale Ehrenfreund

Organic molecules have been shown to be ubiquitous in space and may be the source of the earliest biogenic molecules on Earth. As discussed in Ehrenfreund's Perspective (p. 1123), the role of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is particularly interesting. They are the most abundant organic molecules in space (about 20%), and recent experiments provide some clues about how these molecules might react to form ethers, alcohols, and other molecules that are a step closer to possible biogenic molecules. But many mysteries persist in the genesis and subsequent fate of these molecules.

The author is from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and at Leiden Observatory, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands. E-mail: pascale{at}strw.leidenuniv.nl

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)