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A comment on Why does all life use the same 20 amino acids?. Parent comment

Re:Why does all life use the same 20 amino acids? by mixmastamyk on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @11:54AM (#20758444)
Have heard that Silicon and Germanium have 4 bonds like Carbon does. Follow the periodic table down.
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Re:Why does all life use the same 20 amino acids? by JumpCrisscross on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @12:09PM (#20758633)
> Have heard that Silicon and Germanium have 4 bonds like Carbon does

This is true of all group 14 elements.

Carbon is the lightest and thus most-common group 14 element. Carbon and silicon are the only two group 14 elements lighter than iron, which means they're the only ones produced by stellar burning. (Everything heavier than iron is produced exotically, e.g. by supernovae and neutron star collisions.)

Most (chemical) life is thus probably carbon based, with a minority running on silicon. If germanium-based life exists, it's near a supermassive black hole.

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Re:Why does all life use the same 20 amino acids? by small_fish on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @04:45PM (#20761598)
Uller Uprising, H. Beam Piper

Sci-fi novel based on the Sepoy Mutiny. Life on Uller is based on silicon.

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Re:Why does all life use the same 20 amino acids? by Medicalidiot on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @02:35PM (#20760104)
I thought it was sulfur, but it may have been silicon that the researchers had used.
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