Leh, July 26 —Our understanding of life’s beginnings, Indian scientists have discovered ancient organic molecules preserved in the high-altitude hot springs of Ladakh — a finding that could illuminate not just Earth’s early life, but potentially offer a roadmap for detecting life beyond it, including on Mars.
The discovery, made in the geothermal-rich Puga valley of southeastern Ladakh, centres around rapid carbonate precipitation from hot springs. A team led by Dr Amritpal Singh Chaddha from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences studied calcium carbonate deposits, known as travertine, at an elevation of around 14,500 feet.
Unlike previous global theories which focussed on silica-based origins of life, the Indian team explored the role of carbonates — specifically calcium — which until now remained largely unexplored in prebiotic chemistry.
Using advanced geochemical tools, including gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, and stable isotope geochemistry, the researchers found that these travertine samples preserved amino acid derivatives, sulphur compounds, formamide and fatty acids — all key components of pre-life chemistry.
“Empirical evidence suggests that the natural travertine from the Puga Hot Spring in Ladakh can trap and preserve prebiotic organic molecules, showing calcium carbonate as a potential natural template for origin-of-life chemistry under extreme Earth-like conditions,” Dr Chaddha said.
The findings, published in the ACS Earth and Space Chemistry journal, are being seen as a significant leap in astrobiology. The extreme environment of Puga, with its geothermal heat and high ultraviolet exposure, mirrors early Earth conditions and could serve as a natural prebiotic reactor and preservation site.
The Ministry of Science and Technology said the results may help guide India’s space agency, ISRO, in identifying biosignatures during planetary missions. “It could aid ISRO’s future space exploration missions where identification of true biosignatures is required for identifying life and its associated biogeochemical process,” the ministry said in a statement.
Besides potentially aiding the search for extraterrestrial life, the findings may also influence new biomaterial designs and life-detection tools in synthetic biology. The Puga valley, long known for its geothermal activity, may now also be known as a key to our planetary past — and future.
