Astrobiologist Dr Terry Kee, from the University of Leeds, has found meteorite fragments contain a precursor to a key chemical that allows biological cells to capture energy from their surroundings.
He believes debris from meteorites that hit the Earth billions of years ago may have combined with slightly acidic water on the planet to produce early forms of the compound.
This would then have allowed the first forms of cellular life to form and to use energy from their surroundings.
“There is strong scientific evidence that chemicals essential to life have been found in interstellar material such as meteorites," Dr Kee said.
"Meteorites are fragments of some of the oldest materials in our solar system, and their composition can hold clues as to the appearance and environment of our own planet and what lived on it billions of years ago.”