So the answer, at least for now, is no – although silicon can sometimes be used biologically as some kind of structural support (and there are some examples claiming silicon is an essential trace element) for carbon-based life. Silicon-based life itself does not. exist as far as we know because of the chemistry and…
What would silicon-based life look like?
When we breathe, we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The chemical formula of carbon dioxide is CO2. The corresponding silicon molecule is silicon dioxide or SiO2, commonly known as rock. Thus, silicon-based life on Earth would become extinct from sand.
Can there be life without carbon?
Carbon-free biochemistry. On Earth, all known living things have a carbon-based structure and system. … He considered it only a remote possibility that non-carbon life forms could exist with genetic information systems capable of self-replication, evolution and adaptation.
Can carbon and silicon create life?
Chemically, carbon and silicon are very similar because silicon atoms can bond with up to four other atoms at the same time. … However, there are no known natural examples of life on Earth that combine silicon and carbon into molecules.
Is sulfur-based life possible?
Sulfur-based bacteria are now found in places like hydrothermal vents and hot springs. And early Archean rocks showed evidence of ancient sulfur-based metabolism 3.5 billion years ago, but fossils of these sulfur-based lifeforms have been hard to find and even harder to verify.
Why don’t we have silicon-based life?
The fact that silicon oxidizes into a solid is one of the main reasons why it cannot support life. Silica or sand is a solid because silicon loves oxygen too much and silicon dioxide forms a lattice in which one silicon atom is surrounded by four oxygen atoms.
What if humans were based on silicon?
Carbon easily combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2), a small gaseous molecule that we humans exhale. While silicon combines with oxygen to form silicon dioxide (SiO2), which is a gigantic molecule commonly known as sand. Imagine if we were silicon-based living organisms, we would probably exhale sand.
Why can’t silicon replace carbon?
Although silicon can normally have atoms bonded to each of its 4 faces, just like carbon, the silicon bond is not as strong as the carbon bond because silicon’s outer orbital often lacks a full complement of electrons, even when attached to other atoms is bound.
Are viruses carbon based?
Viruses may be made up of the same basic carbon-based chemistry as every other living thing on this planet, but they can only function by hijacking the cellular machinery of other organisms.
Is methane-based life possible?
It has been hypothesized that life might exist in the liquid methane and ethane that form the rivers and lakes on Titan’s surface, just as organisms on Earth live in water. … In comparison, some methanogens on Earth gain energy by reacting hydrogen with carbon dioxide, producing methane and water.
How is sulfur made?
Sulfur dioxide, SO2, is a colorless gas or liquid with a strong, suffocating odor. It is obtained from the burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil) and the smelting of sulphurous mineral ores (aluminium, copper, zinc, lead and iron). Sulfur dioxide readily dissolves in water to form sulfuric acid. 2