Response to Comment on “Ribose and related sugars from ultraviolet irradiation of interstellar ice analogs”

We detected ribose and related sugars in the organic residues of simulated interstellar ices using multidimensional gas chromatography. Kawai questions the formation of sugar compounds in the ices and suggests that they arise from a classical formose reaction during sample workup for analysis. We disagree with this hypothesis and present additional data to argue that Kawai’s criticism does not apply.