What role are primitive carbonaceous chondrites hypothesized to have played concerning life on Earth?

Delivery vehicles for complex organic molecules

Asteroids, particularly the most primitive types such as carbonaceous chondrites, possess profound historical significance relating to abiogenesis. Scientific hypotheses suggest these space rocks acted as delivery mechanisms, transporting the fundamental chemical precursors necessary for life to the early Earth. Analysis, supported by simulation experiments, indicates that complex organic molecules—including amino acids, sugars, and nucleobases—could have formed on these parent bodies through reactions driven by water and energy sources like impacts or solar radiation. Thus, establishing a settlement among these materials is framed philosophically as a return to the 'cosmic nursery' that initially seeded our planet with the building blocks of biology.