Can Silicon-Based Life Exist in Another World?

 

  Silicon Life in Another World?

Water is the most important ingredient for the existence of all life on earth, from the smallest bacteria called Nanoarchaeum equitans a species of microbe 200 to 500 nm (0.00020 to 0.00050 mm) in diameter discovered in 2002 in a hydrothermal vent off the coast of Iceland by Karl to the largest sequoia tree. The basic chemical composition of life mainly proteins, nucleic acids as we know it. These basic chemical ingredients of life consist of long chains and rings of carbon atoms. Some of these carbon atoms of life combine with oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus. We may say life as we know it here on earth is made up of hydrocarbons and their derivatives in the presence of water.

 

Having said that, we may ask if life can be made from anything else other than carbon-based?  In other words, are there any other substances or molecules similar to carbon that can mimic the properties of life that give it such large bio diversities and characteristics?

 

Can we in our knowledge in biochemistry and chemistry think of something else that could substitute water as the most important ingredient and requirements for life existence? In fact, even in astronomy where scientists look for the existence of life elsewhere in the universe among the stars, they look for worlds circulating stars within the Goldilocks Zone is the presence of water. It shall be where conditions are neither too hot nor too cold for life-giving water to exist since water is crucially important for life to exist. One possibility that may substitute water is liquid ammonia that has similar chemical properties to water. On a planet such as Jupiter where liquid ammonia is commonplace, while liquid water freezes, we may conceive life may be possible in such a world.

 

Hydrogen can easily be attached to carbon atoms in so many ways and arrangement due to the four chains of carbon sticking out, and compounds that make up life can be in almost infinite combinations due to their aliphatic straight chains and rings structures.

 

 Hydrogen is the most abundant element throughout the universe. One element that mimics hydrogen is fluorine. We can have equally numerous compounds that combine fluorine with carbon instead of hydrogen with carbon to make up fluorocarbon chemistry similar to hydrocarbon biochemistry of life. 

 

In fact, fluorocarbon compounds are much stabler than hydrocarbon compounds that are largely the chemicals of life. Furthermore, fluorocarbon compounds are far more heat stable than hydrocarbon compounds from which life is made.  Our knowledge in this, even gives us hope that life made up of fluorocarbons may last far longer than life made of hydrocarbon compounds. 

 

Not just that alone. Life made up of fluorocarbons is more heat stable, which means we may be able to find life evolving in planets far hotter than on earth. This defiles astronomers and scientists' concept of looking for life in planets only within the Goldilocks Zone where temperatures are amenable to life, possibly even without water.

 

Having said that, we go back to our question about carbon atoms that are also among the most abundant atoms besides hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and other elements that made up life. After all, all life as we know them is principally carbon-based as the organic molecules of life. In other words, can there be a substitute for carbon just like fluorine for hydrogen?

 

We briefly mentioned earlier the carbon atom has four chains that can attach themselves with each other and with other atoms in different untold numbers of ways to form chains and ring structures that makes the carbon atom so unique in organic chemistry producing millions of organic compounds.

 

Ah! the silicon atom too mimics the carbon atom in its chemical characteristics in many ways, except the silicon atom is larger than the carbon atom making silicon-silicon and their derivatives less stable than the carbon-carbon combination. Long chains and rings of silicon compounds are lesser than similar carbon analogues. But it is possible to have long and intricate chains of silicon compounds where silicon and oxygen alternate each other. On each of these silicon atoms, other atoms can be attached to made up silicone compounds similar to properties of carbon compounds.

 

It is on these chemical springboards that hydrocarbons and or fluorocarbon groups can be united to form large, complex other compounds that are chemical alternatives of life in another world. This is our knowledge both in chemistry and biology and not fairy tales.  I personally believe such fluorine and silicon-based life in other estimated one hundred trillion, trillion (1 followed by 26 zeros) other worlds scattered throughout the Universe over a horrendous diameter of 93 billion (93 thousand million) light years across.

After all, astronomers tell us we are made from stardust from a distant world through a supernova explosion and the dust may have arrived at this world as soil that may contain considerable amounts of silicon which is sand as silica out of which we were made. This tallies neatly with the concept there may be silicon-based, and or carbon-based life elsewhere too.

 

However, one very important ingredient is missing if these silicon-based chemicals were to spring into life, and that is, it still need the breath of God to pump life into those non-living molecules as clearly given in verse:

 

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”.

 

(Genesis 2:7) 

 

See also article on the mystery of life here:

 

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/search?q=mystery+of+life

 

Any sane and intelligent scientific mind needs to ask themselves if these alien chemistries of life that totally have no resemblance of life as we know it here exist elsewhere in other worlds. For me, my answer is a Big Yes. What about you?