London, Jan 6: Scientists have observed signs of the building blocks of life in a disc of red dust surrounding a distant star, HR 4796A, which is about 8 million years old.     

The discovery suggests that the conditions for life may exist elsewhere in the Universe, reports Times Online.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, a team led by John Debes, of the Carnegie Institution, found a light signature typical of complex organic molecules necessary for life around the star, which lies about 220 light years from Earth.

The finding suggests that the precursor chemicals of living organisms may be reasonably common in other solar systems.

Scientists analysed the light scattered by the dust disc and found that it looked very red.

The red colour was typical of large organic carbon molecules called tholins.

Tholins are believed to have existed on the primitive Earth billions of years ago and may have created the biomolecules that make up living organisms.