Over the years, several of the building blocks of life have been found on pieces of meteorites, indicating that life could emerge elsewhere in the Solar System. Now, a team of scientists claim to have discovered the first extraterrestrial protein that originated in space. Using a new analysis technique, the researchers discovered this protein inside a meteorite called  Acfer 086, which was found in Algeria some 30 years ago. If verified, it will be the first protein ever to have been identified that did not originate on Earth. The protein named hemolithin is structurally similar to proteins found on Earth and may have been formed in the proto-solar disk over 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists will continue their research to get detailed insights on the complex organic molecules, amino acids and even proteins on space rocks.