Carbon will always be in vogue because it is such a crucial element. The role it plays in life, not least as a key constituent of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins (polypeptides) and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) is inestimable. We have an awful lot of carbon (18 percent by mass) in our bodies – less than oxygen (65 percent) admittedly but more than hydrogen (10 percent). Consequently, all living things (plants and animals alike) employ a humongous number of carbon atoms in a bewildering variety of ways in their bodies. Consider just three immensely important carbon-based molecules – chlorophyll, carbon dioxide and retinol. Without the first two, photosynthesis would be impossible and there would be no plants to speak of, no food to eat and no oxygen to inhale. Without the third molecule, retinol, we would not be able to see. And there are literally thousands of carbon-based molecules, performing different functions (often simultaneously) to keep us ticking. Such is the all-pervading significance and long reach of carbon.

It is the organic pigment chlorophyll that captures the Sun’s bountiful light energy by absorbing the red and blue parts of the visible light spectrum and reflecting green. This energy then splits (oxidises) the water molecule during the first stage of photosynthesis to generate molecular oxygen (the vital gas that keeps us alive) and hydrogen ions, the latter subsequently combining with carbon dioxide, reducing it to create the simple sugar, glucose which contains 6 carbon atoms. However, it has recently been found that this gas, in its ionic (bicarbonate) form, also performs a regulating function in the photosynthetic splitting of water. Retinol (Vitamin A1) is essential, not merely for eyesight but for skin maintenance, normal functioning of the immune system, embryonic development and red blood cells. The multitude of organic molecules and compounds is mind-boggling, numbering in the millions and their numbers are increasing, inexorably.