That’s right ladies and gentlemen, it would appear that we’re ALL actually aliens…and not just from the perspective of other lifeforms in the universe.

Scientists have discovered two of the four nucleobases—which are essential in building DNA—in meteorites found in Antarctica. The two nucleobases discovered, adenine and guanine, suggest that the basic building blocks for life could be present throughout the universe, and that meteorites that hit Earth gatrillions (it’s a real number…don’t look it up) of years ago could have acted as seeds, planting what would eventually become life on our planet.

This would also mean that if it did happened here, it could have happened many other places as well.

This isn’t the first time something like this has been discovered, either, though it is one of the best cases. In most other instances nucleobases like this were discovered in meteorites, it was too hard to distinguish whether or not they came with the rock or if some kind of lifeform had later come into contact with it, leaving the DNA.

Carnegie Institution of Washington chemist Jim Cleaves said “People have been finding nucleobases in meteorites for about 50 years now, and have been trying to figure out if they are of biological origin or not. Finding nucleobase compounds not typically found in Earth’s biochemistry strongly supports an extraterrestrial origin.”

NASA Scientist Max Bernstein said that it was impossible to tell whether life on Earth actually began on the back of a meteorite, but added “These molecules are at the core of [life’s] blueprints. It’s possible that the presence of these molecules in meteorites made us what we are today.”

[Source: The Washington Post via International Business Times]