Origin of Round-body Structures in the Orgueil Meteorite

Abstract

MICROBIOLOGICAL examinations of carbonaceous meteorites have been conducted by Oro and Tornabene¹. They discovered bacterial contamination on two carbonaceous chondrites but were unable to detect bacterial affinity for a third meteorite—the Orgueil. We therefore have chosen to examine the Orgueil meteorite² because of this reported lack of bacterial contamination. Reports of biological materials and life-like objects associated with the Orgueil meteorite, as presented by Nagy and Claus and their co-workers^3,4, have, however, aroused speculation as to whether they could be indigenous. To be cautious, one can always entertain the possibility of terrestrial contamination or artefacts created during treatment of the meteorite. Because there is ample evidence for biogenic substances existing in the Orgueil meteorite⁵, evaluation of their origin would seem to be the next step to take. To investigate the problem of contamination, we have attempted ultra-thin sectioning of mineral pieces of the Orgueil meteorite. Nagy has advised us that any biological-like structures firmly embedded in the mineral matrix of the meteorite obviously could not be caused by contamination.