Science News Roundup: Asteroid discovery suggests ingredients for life on Earth came from space; Branson's Virgin Orbit to recall small team from near-total furlough and more

Niacin, also called Vitamin B3 or nicotinic acid, is vital for their metabolism. Second lab-grown chicken product cleared for human consumption by U.S. regulator California-based cultivated meat company GOOD Meat has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to bring its lab-grown chicken to market, according to agency documents released on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Asteroid discovery suggests ingredients for life on Earth came from space

Two organic compounds essential for living organisms have been found in samples retrieved from the asteroid Ryugu, buttressing the notion that some ingredients crucial for the advent of life arrived on Earth aboard rocks from space billions of years ago. Scientists said on Tuesday they detected uracil and niacin in rocks obtained by the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft from two sites on Ryugu in 2019. Uracil is one of the chemical building blocks for RNA, a molecule carrying directions for building and operating living organisms. Niacin, also called Vitamin B3 or nicotinic acid, is vital for their metabolism.

Branson's Virgin Orbit to recall small team from near-total furlough

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit plans to recall on Thursday a small group of employees from a near company-wide furlough to work on rocket upgrades, an email to staff said, with the company confirming some team members would return. The number of employees due to come back to work at the cash-strapped company was not clear, but in the email seen by Reuters sent on Tuesday evening, Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said it involved a "small subset" of employees.

Second lab-grown chicken product cleared for human consumption by U.S. regulator

California-based cultivated meat company GOOD Meat has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to bring its lab-grown chicken to market, according to agency documents released on Tuesday. Several companies are working to bring cultivated meat to market in the United States, and must receive approval from both the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture before they can sell their products.

(With inputs from agencies.)