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In the laboratory, the photo-and thermochemical evolution of ices, made ofsimple molecules of astrophysical relevance, always leads to the formation ofsemi-refractory water-soluble organic residues. Targeted searches for specificmolecules do reveal the notable presence of two families of important molecular''bricks of life'': amino acids, key molecules in metabolism, and sugars,including ribose, the backbone of RNA molecules which support the geneticinformation in all living entities. Most of these molecules are indeed found inprimitive carbonaceous meteorites and their implication in prebiotic chemistryat the surface of the early Earth must be seriously considered. These moleculesare, almost all, chiral. In meteorites, some amino acids do show significantenantiomeric excesses, practically exclusively of the L-form. In ourexperiments, we investigate the role of circularly polarized light obtainedfrom the DESIRS beamline of the synchrotron SOLEIL, a light commonly observedin regions of star formation, in order to generate an initial symmetry breakingin chiral amino acids produced and then indeed detected in our samples. Wepresent first a brief global description of the chemical evolution of theGalaxy. Then, using our laboratory simulations, we suggest the importance ofcosmic ices in the build-up of complex organic matter, includingenantioenrichment at the surface of telluric planets like the Earth, thusestablishing a link between astrochemistry and astrobiology.

Interstellar ices: a possible scenario for symmetry breaking of extraterrestrial chiral organic molecules of prebiotic interest