It is these chains of molecules that serve as the first building blocks of proteins, essential for living things. "We already know from earlier experiments that simple amino acids, like glycine, form in interstellar space. It is therefore very likely that other peptides naturally form in interstellar space as well," said co-author Alfred Thomas Hopkinson, of Aarhus University. But research like ours shows that many of the complex molecules necessary for life are created naturally in space. We've already discovered that many of the building blocks of life are formed out there, and we'll likely find more in the future."