The search for extraterrestrial life and evidence of its origins often focuses on small biorelevant compounds such as α-amino acids. As known life requires these molecules, their presence could aid the formation or provide evidence of life. To ascertain which of these a compound represents-if they were produced biotically or abiotically-isotopic analyses and relative abundances can constrain their synthetic histories. Compound-specific isotopic analysis of the amino acids and aldehydes from a

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... ite of carbonaceous chondrites suggest that Strecker synthesis produced meteoritic amino acids. Site-specific carbon isotope analyses of alanine from a sample of the Murchison meteorite further support Strecker synthesis from a 13 C-rich, possibly ISM-sourced, acetaldehyde and 13 C-poor