Bringing Carbon-Silicon Bonds to Life (3 of 3) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Bringing Carbon-Silicon Bonds to Life (3 of 3)

Caption

Artist rendering of organosilicon-based life. Organosilicon compounds contain carbon-silicon bonds. Recent research from the laboratory of Frances Arnold shows, for the first time, that bacteria can create organosilicon compounds. This does not prove that silicon- or organosiliconbased life is possible, but shows that life could be persuaded to incorporate silicon into its basic components. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the Nov. 25, 2016 issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by S.B.J. Kan at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, and colleagues was titled, "Directed evolution of cytochrome c for carbon-silicon bond formation: Bringing silicon to life."

Credit

Lei Chen and Yan Liang (BeautyOfScience.com) for Caltech

Usage Restrictions

Please cite the owner of the material when publishing. This material may be freely used by reporters as part of news coverage, with proper attribution. Non-reporters must contact <i>Science</i> for permission.

License

Licensed content

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.