Editing Methyl isocyanate (section)

== Extraterrestrial occurrence ==
[[File:ALMA detects methyl isocyanate around young Sun-like stars.jpg|thumb|A photographic montage of methyl isocyanate around young Sun-like stars, as detected by the [[Atacama Large Millimeter Array|ALMA]] [[interferometer]] (northern [[Chile]]).<ref name="ALMA" />]]
On 30 July 2015, scientists reported that upon the first touchdown of the ''[[Philae (spacecraft)|Philae]]'' lander on [[comet]] [[67/P]]{{'s}} surface, measurements by the [[Philae (spacecraft)#Instruments|COSAC and Ptolemy instruments]] revealed sixteen [[organic compound]]s, four of which were seen for the first time on a [[comet]], including [[acetamide]], [[acetone]], methyl isocyanate and [[propionaldehyde]].<ref name="wapo20150730">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/philae-probe-finds-evidence-that-comets-can-be-cosmic-labs/2015/07/30/63a2fc0e-36e5-11e5-ab7b-6416d97c73c2_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223235109/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/philae-probe-finds-evidence-that-comets-can-be-cosmic-labs/2015/07/30/63a2fc0e-36e5-11e5-ab7b-6416d97c73c2_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 December 2018 |title=Philae probe finds evidence that comets can be cosmic labs |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=Associated Press |vauthors=Jordans F |date=30 July 2015 |access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="esa20150730">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Science_on_the_surface_of_a_comet |title=Science on the Surface of a Comet |publisher=European Space Agency |date=30 July 2015 |access-date=30 July 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150802005802/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Science_on_the_surface_of_a_comet |archive-date=2 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="SCI-20150731">{{cite journal |vauthors=Bibring JP, Taylor MG, Alexander C, Auster U, Biele J, Finzi AE, Goesmann F, Klingelhoefer G, Kofman W, Mottola S, Seidensticker KJ, Spohn T, Wright I |display-authors=6 |title=Philae's first look. Philae's First Days on the Comet. Introduction |journal=Science |volume=349 |issue=6247 |pages=493 |date=July 2015 |pmid=26228139 |bibcode=2015Sci...349..493B |doi=10.1126/science.aac5116 |doi-access=free|url=https://elib.dlr.de/97953/1/Science-2015-Bibring-493.pdf }}</ref>

In 2017, two teams of astronomers using the [[Atacama Large Millimeter Array]] (ALMA) [[interferometer]] made of 66 radio telescopes in the [[Atacama Desert]] (northern [[Chile]]) have discovered the presence of MIC around young Sun-like stars.<ref name="ALMA">{{cite web |title=ALMA Finds Ingredient of Life Around Infant Sun-like Stars |url=https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1718/ |website=www.eso.org |access-date=8 June 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608143057/http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1718/ |archive-date=8 June 2017}}</ref>

MIC is considered a [[Prebiotic (chemistry)|prebiotic molecule]] as explained by the discoverers of the ALMA findings in [[IRAS 16293-2422]], a multiple system of very young stars: "This family of organic molecules is involved in the synthesis of [[peptide]]s and [[amino acid]]s, which, in the form of [[protein]]s, are the biological basis for life as we know it".<ref name="ALMA" />