User blog comment:Mectrixctic/Re-writing Puffle article somewhat/@comment-1024726-20091016201223

I just read Wikipedia's article on hypothetical forms of biochemistry, and apparently silicon alone wouldn't work very well as a building block of life, unlike its (ironically similar) neighbor carbon. HOWEVER, a few forms of life on Earth DO use silicon ALONG with carbon -- diatoms use silica as a cell wall component, and in humans, silicon is a major part of collagen, which keeps skin elastic. In addition, I'm sure silica-based fur would be somewhat fireproof, which might explain how black puffles survive their own flames. However, that would kinda make puffle fur rough..... unless the blizzards eroded the silica to make it soft and smooth.

Other candidates are nitrogen and phosphorus, which combined can form many complex molecules like rings. However, nitrogen gas is hard to fixate due to its triple bond, and if puffles were based on nitrogen and phosphorus, that would be a problem for them on Earth. (Of course, they could pick up nitrogen-fixating bacteria from the O' Berry bushes they eat and develop a symbiotic relationship. That would be nice!)

My point is, if puffles are indeed extra-terrestrial, their biochemistry should be somewhat based on other elements as well as carbon (which is obviously needed to survive on Earth).