Would Aliens have DNA?

[Mr Jive]

If life did exist somewhere else in the universe, it would have evolved like us, and as we know evolution is a process that is random, simple mutations that help a creature survive increase its chances of reproduction. So, if this is true, would it be unlikely that aliens would have DNA, as they might develop a different system because of random selection, but also there could be many other traits that might develop differently, four limbs on mammals might not be the norm, hell there might not even be mammals, there could be an entirely different form of creature on an alien world.

So how much different do you think an aliens biology would be from our own, and do you think that there are some things that might be universal to all creatures, even ones from different planets?

[rBST Cow]

So how much different do you think an aliens biology would be from our own, and do you think that there are some things that might be universal to all creatures, even ones from different planets?

I think the universal things would have to be that all of the creatures need some sort of a liquid to run off of. If a creature/living thing didn't have a liquid (Like humans use H2O) then they'd be completely solid and they wouldn't be able to move, and there wouldn't be a way to transfer resources that their species needs (Like how humans need water, and if we didn't have any water then we'd be dead because...well it's just pretty obvious.)

On their biology, it could really be anything. Look at all the creatures on earth, ones in the air, water, and on land. They are very different from each other, take a turtle and a bee. If it was a different planet, then it could be so different that we wouldn't even be able to imagine it.

[Keskjer]

Anything and everything organic has DNA. that would include aliens; if it would be a alien plant, or a alien from a movie, if would still have a form of DNA. Non organic things like... rocks have their own form of DNA 'atoms' which combined with a higs boson it has mass.

[Statua]

DNA is required for the replication of cells in all plants and animals on Earth. However we haven't found living anything outside of earths atmosphere, thus we cant be so sure. We already know that there are elements out there that aren't in our table of elements. So whats to say there isn't a different form of organic code out there for reproduction?

[Somone77]

No, well, at least it wouldn't be DNA.

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”

In an infinite universe such as our own, it is almost expected that we're not alone, and in that infinite universe there is an infinite combination of atoms that can be made, this can include life (though how we define life can be very interesting in itself, have we been investigated by a far more advanced civilization but been ignored because we are less than life in their definition? Scary thought...) and life which surfaces from evolution would require a chemical map of themselves. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) would more than likely not be what these life forms are based upon, we had it because that's what our environment provided, we adapted to what we were given and these were the chemicals we could produce.

We define life as anything that does work, consumes resources, and changes its environment. This means that, by that definition, there could be a higher form of intelligence that does not affect its environment, we would pass it off as non-life.

I'll leave with a paraphrased quote to which I can not find the author:
"Next time you're lying outside, looking up at the night sky and asking 'Is there anyone out there?', just remember that, in all likelihood, millions of light years away, someone else is wondering the same thing."

[tim]

the answer is no
what if "life" what it means to us means something completely different millions of lightyears away

oh man avatar related

[Kevin]

No.

User got a 10% warning for single word posting. -KJUN

[Pielolz]

Anything and everything organic has DNA. that would include aliens; if it would be a alien plant, or a alien from a movie, if would still have a form of DNA. Non organic things like... rocks have their own form of DNA 'atoms' which combined with a higs boson it has mass.

I believe you have higgs boson confused with another term. A Higgs Boson was created in a particle accelerator by colliding 11 trillion protons. (or photons, forget).

[wakeboarderCWB]

Deoxyribonucleic Acid is in every living thing.

It's in every living thing that we have studied and examined. We haven't looked at aliens yet, therefore we don't know what their body is like. It could be completely different from ours.

[[LP]GMK-MRL]

This is honestly a question that should be answered by professionals, not people who obtain their information from either general knowledge of High School/College Courses or the internet.

No one would actually know what they're talking about other than what they were taught.

[rBST Cow]

This is honestly a question that should be answered by professionals, not people who obtain their information from either general knowledge of High School/College Courses or the internet.

No one would actually know what they're talking about other than what they were taught.

If knowledge attained from a college is "unreliable" from the way you put it, then what knowledge is? On the internet there are websites such as http://harvardmagazine.com/ , AP, or the gale database? What knowledge is reliable to you then? Do people have to do the "experiments" themselves or something? Colleges teach things that have evidence behind them/therories, and so those are instantly fake? What about a doctor at some hospital? He doesn't know what he's talking about when he takes a look at an x-ray and the arm is "broken"? Your logic makes no sense at all, besides, we're getting offtopic.

[[LP]GMK-MRL]

This is honestly a question that should be answered by professionals, not people who obtain their information from either general knowledge of High School/College Courses or the internet.

No one would actually know what they're talking about other than what they were taught.

If knowledge attained from a college is "unreliable" from the way you put it, then what knowledge is? On the internet there are websites such as http://harvardmagazine.com/ , AP, or the gale database? What knowledge is reliable to you then? Do people have to do the "experiments" themselves or something? Colleges teach things that have evidence behind them/therories, and so those are instantly fake? What about a doctor at some hospital? He doesn't know what he's talking about when he takes a look at an x-ray and the arm is "broken"? Your logic makes no sense at all, besides, we're getting offtopic.

Alright, i'll explain my meaning. Basically, people would hear one thing from a professor/teacher and repeat it word for word or even worse, misinterpreted.

Reliable knowledge is knowledge that comes from experience in the field of Astrobiology and extra-terrestrial studies.

I did not say Colleges do not provide adequate teachings, its how the student interprets them and displays their knowledge of it.

The internet is not a fully trustworthy place to gain the full amount of experience and knowledgeon a subject.

damn now i'm too tired to care.

You win the "intelligence battle" I guess.

[smt]

no one has taken a real sample of alien life so there is no true knowledge that anyone can know, it's all theorys, doctors in science might have more realistic theorys but there's nothing wrong with "alien life might have dna like us or it might not" because that's pretty much all anyone can tell, specifics can be guessed but its still guessing at best, we could look at the climate and chemical state of planets we know and just assume that life would be based on whatever the planet is made up of because that's just how it's probably gonna work when/if we find intelligent alien life

[raged]

what if the aliens are rock people