# Amino Acids and Biology



## Riptide (Aug 25, 2016)

I'm writing this story that I hope doesn't need too much scientific backing, but I have come to a point where I need to figure out how the human race evolved to accommodate space.

Basically humans can now breath in any and every atmosphere regardless of the chemicals present because they produce something that nullifies the damage and instead can use it to function. Or it just morphs the atmosphere intake into something usable for the body.

I said humans evolved a new amino acid  that did that... except I don't know if what amino acids do qualifies for this kind of job.


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## Schrody (Aug 25, 2016)

I don't think there is an amino acid that does that, or that humans would be so quickly adapted to all kinds of (non)atmospheres... You have a good idea, why back it up with science? What I'm trying to say is that you should stick to your story or use science, but if you use science you would need a lot of research, and I think it would be pretty hard to keep that suspension of disbelief (I first wouldn't be "satisfied") - it's okay if you don't explain it, but if someone's using science then I expect it to be at least plausible (possible in a few centuries). If humans can breathe everywhere it means they (or amino acid) should've been exposed to every possible (non) atmosphere in order to adapt and evolve. Long before humans, first organisms breathed methane - when oxygen came, a lot of species went extinct because they weren't adaptable and only those who could adapt fast enough survived to evolve in the life we know today, so maybe you could put it in the similar way? Like that amino acid mutated in one person and it carried over several generations until it wasn't considered a mutation? Don't know if you're following me here...


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## Terry D (Aug 25, 2016)

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, on their own they do nothing, but in the right combinations they are responsible for most bodily functions. So, a new amino acid would not do what you are looking for. In fact I don't see any way evolution could create a human that can breath in "any and every atmosphere" . Evolution is the process of random mutations providing individual members of a species adaptations which are beneficial within their environment leading to a breeding advantage for the holder of that adaptation. A species can't evolve to take advantage of an atmosphere it has never experienced. There's just no way a human could evolve to breathe oxygen/nitrogen/CO2 on Earth, pure CO2 on Mars, and still be able to survive the sulfuric acid atmosphere of Venus. And that's just us and our two closest neighbors. There's no telling what we would run into on other worlds.

In my opinion, you would be better off using technology, rather than biology to adapt your future humans.


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## Schrody (Aug 25, 2016)

^ What Terry said.


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## Riptide (Aug 25, 2016)

I am talking about basically millenniums have passed to charge this evolution. Their first evolution was to excrete a kind of barrier that locks Earth's atmosphere around the person, and then it changed from there, but... maybe I'll make into a kind of injected new chemical that spread with birth and all that.


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## Schrody (Aug 25, 2016)

I always say: good writer can get away with anything.


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## Terry D (Aug 25, 2016)

Riptide said:


> I am talking about basically millenniums have passed to charge this evolution. Their first evolution was to excrete a kind of barrier that locks Earth's atmosphere around the person, and then it changed from there, but... maybe I'll make into a kind of injected new chemical that spread with birth and all that.



The radical changes you are talking about would not happen through natural selection (evolution) it just doesn't work that way. Even if it did it would take millions of years to achieve such dramatic adaptations. As Schrody suggests, you would be better off not trying to justify the creatures you want through evolution and just writing it as a science fantasy.


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## LeeC (Aug 25, 2016)

The restriction with higher life forms is that because of all the cooperating cells they can't change their chemistry, whereas microorganisms can. 

A wild and fanciful idea might be that your humans have formed a symbiosis with colonies of autotrophic algae in their lungs, which are advanced enough to vary their intake (carbon dioxide, sulfur, ammonium, etc.) yet always produce a byproduct of oxygen. I say wild because we don't know of any microorganisms that can vary their chemistry in mass and quickly enough to maintain human oxygen needs, can alter chemistry laws (output based on input), and would lie dormant in an oxygen atmosphere.

Fanciful indeed, but you might pull it off in getting the reader to suspend belief, confusing them with unconnected facts as it were ;-)*Save**Save*​


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## K.S. Crooks (Aug 27, 2016)

Why human/animals breath oxygen is to have the atoms accept free electrons when our cells break down sugar for energy. The electrons, oxygen and hydrogen ions form water vapour which we breath out. CO2 comes from the sugar/glucose molecule not from the converted oxygen.
There could be an enzyme that allows humans to use other elements to take the electrons and hydrogen ions. Enzymes are mainly proteins, which are long chains of amino acids. Perhaps something similar to gills on a fish. The question I have is why would this mutation become prevalent in humans? Also remember that 78% of earth's atmosphere is nitrogen gas. If people are in a place with no oxygen the other gases don't have to be harmful for them to die. Finally, in space gases are few and far between, thus humans with your mutation still could not breath.


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## Riptide (Aug 27, 2016)

I don't really want them to breath in space, but other planets where they have who knows how many variations of chemicals, many we might not know about now. In my story humans are the first pioneers of the Universe and kinda populate everywhere so every varied species has some ancestry to humans, which is why many are humanoid. 

Anyway, it is to accommodate their constant space travel and atmosphere jumping through the generations. I'll tweak later on in the story, but for right now i'll have to work.


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## Phil Istine (Aug 27, 2016)

A medical invention that works at cellular level to vastly speed up the ability to adapt.

Sorry, I've just been watching an episode of Star Trek Voyager.


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## Makili (Sep 1, 2016)

As other members explained,  oxygen is something that starts a metabolic chain reaction that provides us with energy.  So to use other elements or molecules would require a major reshuffling of human metabolism. Also,  evolutionary adaptations in higher lifeforms take long time,  so it won't be convenient option for your purpose.  So as someone suggested,  use technology.  If you really want biological explanation,  then consider genetic modifications.  Maybe pioneers for space have been genetically engineered to withstand conditions of particular target planets.


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