Can life on another world be ultimately based on silicon and not carbon?
This idea was discussed after watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
by 
CosmicWunderkind
ANSWERS: 3
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You would need someone with a solid understanding of chemistry and biology to properly answer that. But the writers of Star Trek thought it feasible, if that's any help (though they always portrayed the silicon-based creatures as looking like rocks, which didn't seem a realistic idea to me).
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4-8-2017 No. Life requires molecules that are often quite large and silicon does not have the bond strength to hold large molecules together.
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Jewels Vern Another problem is that carbon dioxide is a gas, but silicon dioxide is a solid (glass).
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Possible, but highly unlikely. The temperature range necessary for silicon atoms to behave as similarly as carbon atoms is even more narrow than carbons'.
Mr PantsFellDown 
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