These molecules are enormously complex and detailed structures carrying on particular, specialized tasks. Such organization presents a serious challenge to the idea that life arose by chance rather than design, but that is not our subject here. On a much simpler level, such chemicals as carbon, phosphorus and water suggest that life didn t just happen. Carbon is the only element in existence which forms chains of almost unlimited length, needed for DNA, RNA and protein. All the carbon in our universe apparently formed inside stars and was scattered over space as stars exploded.
Carbon is formed by a rare collision of three helium nuclei.
On the other hand, carbon easily combines with another helium nucleus to form oxygen. But it just so happens that the energy of the combination is just above an oxygen resonance, which is thus out of reach. In either case, carbon would be very rare and life itself rare or nonexistent. Without these compounds there would be no higher animal life since such an efficient method of energy storage is needed for mobility. Yet only phosphorus, of all the elements, has this capability.