Silicon Is an Element That, Like Carbon, Has Four Vacancies

Essay

Silicon is an element that, like carbon, has four vacancies in its outer electron shell and therefore has the same bonding chemistry as carbon.Silicon is not found to any significant degree in the molecules found in living systems, however.Does this difference arise because elemental carbon is more abundant than silicon? What other explanations are there for the preferential selection of carbon over silicon as the basis for the molecules of life?