Why does life require oxygen and not some other gas like nitrogen for example.
Is there something specific in oxygen that life needs to survive?
In: 14
I’ll try my best to make this as straightforward as possible.
In each cell in your body, Oxygen comes in in the form of 2 oxygen’s doubly bonded, the 2 oxygen atoms are split apart, and combined with a carbon atom bonded to hydrogens. This results in a free hydrogen, which is pushed through some protein machinery to force a phosphate group onto adinosine diphosphate, creating adisonine triphosphate, otherwise known at ATP. ATP is the source of energy in the body, used for everything from moving your muscles to digesting food. The resulting CO2 molecule is expelled through your lungs.
This is why we breathe in oxygen, eat carbon based foods, and breathe out CO2. It’s all about creating ATP, which is the source of energy for all biological processes.
Edit: other organisms make ATP differently, using light or non-carbon based processes. This is just what humans and other animals do.
Source: Took organic chemistry and biochemistry in college and I at least remember this intersting chemical process.
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