what “carbon based” life means

Question

what “carbon based” life means

In: Biology

Answer 1

The main macromolecules that make up our bodies include the following:

– proteins

– nucleic acids

– carbohydrates

– lipids

I am unable to show a photo here – but if you go to google images and search for images of the chemical structure of each of the above macromolecules, you will notice something similar between all of these molecules.

All of these molecules have Carbon atoms that make up the main structure / framework for each of those molecule types.

Given this fact about Carbon as the basis for the structure of the main macromolecules in our bodies, there is something that may surprise you…

OXYGEN is actually the most abundant element in the human body.

Here is a breakdown:

96 percent of the human body is made of 4 elements: oxygen (65 percent), carbon (18.5 percent), hydrogen (9.5 percent) and nitrogen (3.3 percent).

If life is supposedly “carbon based”, why does oxygen make up over 65% of the human body?

The answer is WATER.

Water makes up 60% of our bodies, but life is still said to be carbon-based, because the structural components of our bodies (tissues, organs, etc.) are made of molecules that have carbon as the main element in the chemical structure.

edit: clarity