Biochemistry (mostly) Questions for Science Fiction

I'm Wyvera, a young female writer. I've been working on a science fiction project for more than a year now. This project, which I will eventually turn into a novel series, is supposed to remain as scientifically-plausible as I can get it to be. I've mostly succeeded, but there's one science field that I... kinda suck at. That's chemistry.

I've been adding fictional elements to this project because it features alien worlds, and I started adding fictional elements not too long ago as to give it more variety, creativity, and allow more aspects to be added to it in general. I've also been considering alternative biochemistry, but I kinda stink at that too. For nearly a month I've been looking around the internet, trying to find somebody who was at least experienced in chemistry, to no avail. I found this place recently though, so hopefully, I can get something.

So I'll list down some questions I have for it. Ask if I need to specify more:

1: Is alternative biochemistry possible? If so, what elements could work for it? Silicon? Ammonia? Boron? Methane? And how would life be different depending on the elements used?

2: Could an element let almost all lifeforms, even those that breathe in different things, breathe it in and work safely in an atmosphere? Could it also be produced by alien flora somehow?

3: Is Sodium (or salt) able to be an alternative energy source for alien plants that reside on a very dry planet? Could flora even grow on bare rock with no soil?

People have probably asked something like this before, but I kind of don't have the time to look through questions at the moment, and I wanted to get this answered soon. Thanks for taking the time to read this! Excuse any newbie-esque behaviors here or any cluelessness with science, I'm still pretty new.

posted over 6 years ago

Averian‭

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