At http://phys.org/print379308179.html … an interesting discovery. Ribose and related sugar molecules, the backbone of RNA, or ribonucleic acids, which are important in the coding of genetic information from before the emergence of DNA, is found in comets and asteroids. It may actually be abundant in the universe at large. As such, life beyond the confines of the Earth must be feasible. It is already known that seeding of the molecules necessary for life such as amino acids and carboxylic acids and alcohols reproduced in laboratory experiments, originate from the interaction of cometary ices (and gases in the coma), and space radiation. Ribose is the backbone of RNA – and it is out there too.
The paper is in April's issue of Science journal (2016)