abiottisista

Abiottisista is a term used primarily in speculative biology and science fiction to describe hypothetical life-like entities that operate through abiotic, non-carbon chemistry. The word blends abiotic with the -ista suffix, used to denote a practitioner or class.

Abiottisista are not a real taxonomic group; rather, they function as a conceptual construct to explore alternative metabolisms and information storage outside familiar carbon-based biochemistry. In this framework, metabolism and growth arise from mineral–water interfaces and redox disequilibria rather than from enzymatic networks and nucleic acids.

Proposed properties include: inorganic or mineral-based substrates as structural scaffolds; energy derived from redox couples with rocky or metallic minerals; catalysts supplied by crystal surfaces; replication via crystallization, templating of mineral lattices, or metamorphic rearrangements rather than genetic replication; information encoded in stable crystal patterns or lattice topologies rather than nucleic sequences.

Habitats imagined for abiottisista include deep-sea hydrothermal environments, mineral-rich brines, or subsurface aqueous systems on rocky bodies where carbon-based chemistry is limited. Interactions with carbon-based ecosystems are uncertain in these models, ranging from isolated pioneers to symbiotic associations with mineralogically active microbes.

In astrobiology and philosophy of biology, abiottisista serve as a tool for discussions about the criteria for life, the spectrum of possible metabolism, and the role of information in living systems. They help frame questions about detectability, biosignatures, and the definition of life beyond Earth.