Alien Bio Chemistry by Peter Jekel (jekelhart@accglobal.

net) Making Alien Life Forms The Soup of Life You've come up with that perfect science fiction story. Real "hard" sci-fi. Its main premise centers around the first human explorers to a world inhabited by silicon-based beings who swim around in a hot methane sea. The idea sounds interesting, but the science is wrong. Now don't get your back up and say, "Well, no one ever proved it can't be." True enough, but hardly a good answer for a devoted "hard" science fiction reader. The explanation just would not fly. The science, in this case the chemistry of your aliens and their environment has to be credible. Do not get discouraged either. Writing should be fun. Keeping it within the limits of possible science, rather than fantasy, will not only provide a fun challenge but can even open up new venues for storylines to explore. So where do we start? First we must define what life actually is. It is not as easy as it sounds and some biologists are still grappling with a true definition. For our purposes, we will require that life has a physical structure, must be able to use energy and must be capable of reproduction. Physical Structure The gaseous alien has been a favourite of Hollywood for years (look back on many science fiction series), probably because a gaseous alien is cheap (no actors required) and it is exotic enough to pass as a "good" science fiction story. The problem with a gaseous creature is that the molecules making up a gas are randomly distributed and separated by large spaces (on an atomic level). All chemical reactions, therefore, will take place in one place in the gas as easily as it would in another. Life as we know it is based upon a number of different chemical reactions occurring simultaneously. With this in mind, how can we really seriously consider a gaseous being? If that is not convincing enough, gas molecules also tend to be fairly simple in structure and hardly match the complexity of molecules that make up living organisms as we know them. A better candidate for an alien lifeform would be a solid one; after all, lifeforms on Earth have a solid structure. Solids have the advantage of allowing for the construction of complex molecules, essential to lifeforms. Unlike gases, solids also allow for complex chemical reactions to occur in one region without necessarily occurring in another, an essential in life processes. The astute chemistry student will quickly realize that solids do not allow for the fast reactions which are associated with lifeforms as we know them. So how do lifeforms on Earth get around this problem? The way is by means of a liquid medium; in the case of Earth lifeforms, that liquid medium is water. Most animals on Earth are approximately 70% water and in plants, the percentage is much higher. Liquids possess the advantages of solids and gases without their inherent shortcomings. Their molecules are in virtual contact with one another, giving the liquid many of the properties of a solid. A liquid will also allow for the molecules to move quickly, thus allowing for quick chemical reactions to occur, much like a gas. Some liquids also have the advantage of being able to dissolve solids and liquids, essential in many life processes. Water is the liquid of choice on Earth, but are there alternatives? Hydrogen fluoride is one chemical that could be used as it has the ability to dissolve chemicals readily, an important property for life processes to proceed. However, fluorine in the universe is a relatively rare element, which does not eliminate as a possibility though, but limits its likelihood. Hydrogen fluoride will also react with silicate rocks (of which the crust of Earth is a large part-remember this when constructing the geology of your alien world) to create water and silicon tetrafluoride. Therefore, hydrogen fluoride is a possible, but unlikely candidate to replace water.

Methane seas are a favourite of many writers looking for exotic locales. Methane is a gas under normal Earthlike conditions, but if temperatures are low enough or pressures high enough, it can be a liquid. Under very high pressure conditions, it is even possible for methane to be a liquid at temperatures that are quite comfortable for lifeforms as we know them. High pressure is not necessarily a detriment to life. Even on Earth, there are lifeforms in the sea that can withstand pressures that would crush us as flat as a pancake. What is the disadvantage of methane being the liquid to replace water? Being a hydrocarbon, it will readily dissolve various organic chemicals such as fats. However, methane, because of the structure of its molecule does not readily dissolve molecules such as salts which is an essential property of water in its role in Earthly lifeforms. Do remember, though, that your lifeforms are not Earthbound and may not rely on dissolved salts for their metabolic processes. The most likely candidate to replace water, at least for lifeforms that approximate Earthlike forms, would be ammonia. Under cold temperatures or high pressures, it has all of the essential properties of water. Do not try a taste experiment, though, on yourself because ammonia is still toxic to our lifeforms. What is it about water and ammonia that make them more likely candidates? Both are relatively abundant in the cosmos. Secondly, both are polar chemicals; that is the electrical charges on their molecules are asymmetrical. This may be mumbo-jumbo to many, but it does have an effect on a chemical's ability to dissolve other chemicals, especially salts. Methane's inability to dissolve salts comes from the fact that it is a non-polar chemical. All of the chemicals described with the exception of water appear to occur on relatively cold planets. How about a hot world? Can a liquid medium exist and if so, what sort of life would exist? A sulphuric acid sea is made to order. It's exotic and it has many of the characteristics of water; it's a polar molecule and has a large range between boiling and melting. The problem arises with its corrosiveness. Some chemicals do survive, though, even organic ones such as the alkanes. Silicone also survives the corrosiveness of the medium. (see silicon-based life below). Careful with using sulfuric acid as a medium for life if you plan on a civilization capable of tool-making as we know it. Sulphuric acid corrodes and actually dissolves most tool-making metals. In our age of computers, with their silicon chips, it should not be hard for a science fiction author to come up with an alternative to metals. Therefore, we have a medium for the chemical reactions of life to occur. The key to remember is to select a chemical medium that meets the temperature and or pressure restraints of your planet. Each of the described chemicals have very different boiling and melting points. We still need the solid part of the alien being, unless of course you create a liquid alien as was beautifully done in Stanislaw Lem's Solaris, in which the main character is an oceanic entity. On Earth, life is based on carbon. Carbon can form the long chains, rings and collections of such structures whereas other chemicals cannot. Complex chemicals, as far as we are aware, are essential to make the chemicals of life. An oft-touted alternative to carbon is silicon. It appears as number 14 on the periodic table as opposed to carbon's 6th placing. It is similar to carbon in that it requires four electrons to complete its outer orbitals. With that being said, why is it that carbon which makes up less than one percent of the Earth's elements is the atom used in living organisms when silicon makes up 25% of the Earth's elements? First of all, carbon can create stronger bonds because its smaller size allows two adjacent carbon atoms to be in closer proximity to each other, thus allowing the formation of long complex molecular chains. Carbon also possesses the ability to maintain double and even triple bonds between atoms which furthermore increases its versatility. In spite of the limitations of silicon, some writers have created plausible silicon beings. Joseph Green's Conscience Interplanetary is a story about sessile intelligent silicon-based plants linked by a nervous system of silver wire. Sentenced to Prism is an Alan Dean Foster novel dealing with crystalline silicon lifeforms.

If you are insistent on a silicon-based lifeform that goes beyond the stationary as this can limit storylines, do not despair. Silicon can produce polymer chains using inorganic and organic (carbon-based) chemical groups. The chains consist of silicon and oxygen atom pairs with organic compounds attached to the silicons. They are called silicones. Silicones allow writers to incorporate many of the features of organic molecules, but using a silicon base. H. Beam Piper's story, Uller Uprising speculates on the possibility of silicone-based life. Therefore, silicon-based lifeforms are a definite possibility. What about energy-based lifeforms? They can be said to derive their structure from the electrical and magnetic fields and therefore would fit our definition of lifeforms. Philip Farmer also wrote an interesting novel about an energy alien in Jesus on Mars. What about the really bizarre? Those conditions that would seem to make life impossible at all. Is it possible to keep such a story within the confines of plausible rather than imaginary science. It is more than possible. In fact, Robert Forward wrote a classic "hard" science fiction novel that deals with life on a neutron star, Dragon's Egg and its sequel, Starquake. A neutron star is a small star about the size of the Earth, made up of tightly packed neutrons, where densities approach 10 to the fourteenth power that of water. Life as we know it could not exist on such a world. Forward does not merely approach the problem by saying, "Prove it cannot be so." Forward used physics to create his new alien. He created the Cheela, the dominant lifeform on the star. Instead of being made up of molecules and atoms as life on Earth is, he created the concept of "nuclear bonded molecules." Pure conjecture, but the science is conceivable under the conditions presented by the neutron star. Energy To qualify as life, there is the need to use energy. On Earth, most organisms derive energy by the reaction of oxygen with other chemicals. What is to say that oxygen is essential though? Many organisms on Earth are anaerobic (do not use oxygen for energy production) and actually would die off in the presence of the gas. The organism that causes the deadly botulism is one example. It has also been stated that life would not have arisen on Earth if oxygen had been present in great abundance when life began. Chlorine and fluorine are powerful oxidizers and though toxic to us, need not be to your alien lifeforms. Jack White wrote The Escape Orbit which has chlorinebreathing aliens battling humanity. Remember that oxygen too, is toxic to some Earth lifeforms. The oxygen on Earth is created through the process of photosynthesis of green plants. On your alien world there can be a chemical reaction whereby the lifeforms synthesize chlorine or fluorine from the chloride or fluoride minerals dissolved in water. Hal Clement, a writer of "hard" science fiction, has even postulated that aliens need not use gas to derive energy. There are many other compounds; one that he has suggested is nitric acid which is normally a liquid. Nitric acid, when combined with sugar yields more energy than an equal amount of oxygen applied to the same amount of sugar. In effect, in some respects, it would appear to be a more effective system. Comments may be made about the corrosive activity on tissue by nitric acid. Just look at your rusting hulk of a car to see what the effects of oxygen can be. Life will adapt to the conditions presented to it or perish. Reproduction In our definition of life, we require that it be able to make replicates of itself as well. On Earth, the molecule that is predominately responsible for the template that allows for the reproduction of replicates is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA's ability to act as this template molecule comes from its unique shape and size. If you can design a scientifically sound molecule that approaches the shape of DNA, you can use that as an alternative. Even on Earth, there are alternatives. There are viruses that reproduce versions of themselves

using ribonucleic acid (RNA) templates. True, they can only manufacture replicates with the contents of a living cell, but the template molecule is still RNA. The organisms that cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Kuru, Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, Scrapie and possibly many more diseases are called prions. The organisms, if they can even be called such, are proteins that reproduce by some unknown mechanism. The proteins are quite stable, being able to withstand conditions that would denature DNA and RNA molecules. We must come back to our energy-based beings now. We were able to accept them when it came to structure but they appear to fall apart when itcomes to the need to replicate. To replicate the energy-based beings would disobey a very fundamental law of our universe, the first law of thermodynamics. The law states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can only be changed from one form to another. Therefore, the need for reproduction in lifeforms, with the exception of the energy-based beings is hardly limiting. Even on Earth, DNA is not the universal template. Conclusions Do not despair! Your planet and its aliens can still be quite exotic and still appear scientifically credible. Life on Earth shows us that life appears to be a given rather than an exception. Life on Earth can be found in the rarefied atmosphere of mountaintops, in the numbing cold of an Antarctic icecap, at the crushing pressures of the ocean depths, under water temperatures of liquid water reaching 360 degrees Celsius (at volcanic vents on the ocean trenches of the worldthe temperature of the water is possible by virtue of the high pressure), inside the anaerobic environment of a can and within the insides of other living creatures. Certainly, even using Earthlike chemistry for your aliens, need not limit your creation of exotic aliens. The key is to look at the prospect of creating scientifically credible aliens as a challenge. And have fun doing it. Appendix: Boiling points for the suggested liquid media for life: Water: 100 degrees Celsius Ammonia: -33.4 degrees Celsius Methane: -161.5 degrees Celsius Hydrogen Fluoride: 19.9 degrees Celsius Sulphuric Acid: 337 degrees Celsius