can life be transformed from being carbon based to silicon based

[Sadat Anwar]

since our bodies are primarily made of carbon that is readily reactive to form proteins its however less durable and this is one of the factors that could have delayed space exploration so what if we converted life from being carbon based to something like silicon using the knowledge of genetics hence re-writing all bochemistry

[exchemist]

6 minutes ago, Sadat Anwar said:

since our bodies are primarily made of carbon that is readily reactive to form proteins its however less durable and this is one of the factors that could have delayed space exploration so what if we converted life from being carbon based to something like silicon using the knowledge of genetics hence re-writing all bochemistry

Just like that, eh? 😀

Aside from the sheer impracticability of anything so complex, one basic difficulty is that Si is less good at catenation, i.e. forming long chains. Wiki has a nice discussion of catenation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catenation. You will see that although Si can be made to form chains, these tend to be unstable relative to other compounds at higher number of catenated atoms. The valence p orbitals of Si will be more diffuse than those of C because of the higher principal quantum number. This not only makes the Si-Si σ-bond weaker than the C-C bond, but will be especially an issue when it comes to forming π-bonds. So, for instance, any protein-like molecule made from Si in place of C would almost certainly be less stable, not more, than the C-based original.

Carbon really does seem uniquely suitable for developing a viable biochemistry.

[TheVat]

The scriptwriter of The Devil in the Dark episode of Star Trek was more attentive to other bonding issues when it came to silicon based life forms...

[exchemist]

18 minutes ago, TheVat said:

The scriptwriter of The Devil in the Dark episode of Star Trek was more attentive to other bonding issues when it came to silicon based life forms...

The bonding of Spock's silicone ears to his head, you mean? 😆

[CharonY]

7 hours ago, exchemist said:

Just like that, eh? 😀

Aside from the sheer impracticability of anything so complex, one basic difficulty is that Si is less good at catenation, i.e. forming long chains. Wiki has a nice discussion of catenation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catenation. You will see that although Si can be made to form chains, these tend to be unstable relative to other compounds at higher number of catenated atoms. The valence p orbitals of Si will be more diffuse than those of C because of the higher principal quantum number. This not only makes the Si-Si σ-bond weaker than the C-C bond, but will be especially an issue when it comes to forming π-bonds. So, for instance, any protein-like molecule made from Si in place of C would almost certainly be less stable, not more, than the C-based original.

Carbon really does seem uniquely suitable for developing a viable biochemistry.

Very good point, and there are of course other chemical differences. We have evolved extremely sophisticated mechanisms to expel CO2, based on the fact that it is a gas. SiO2, on the other hand, isn't.

I am sure that there a also thermodynamic constraints and at minimum the whole metabolism would have to be rewired, assuming it is possible in the first place.

[Markus Hanke]

11 hours ago, TheVat said:

The scriptwriter of The Devil in the Dark episode of Star Trek was more attentive to other bonding issues when it came to silicon based life forms...

Lol +1

Oh how I love being among nerds…