Final answer:
Carbon's capacity to form stable bonds with many elements, particularly with itself, allows for a vast diversity of organic molecules vital to life. Its four bond-forming electrons enable the construction of complex structures like proteins and DNA, defining it as the basis of organic chemistry.
Step-by-step explanation:
Carbon is important in biology because it can form four stable covalent bonds, which allows it to build a diverse array of complex organic molecules that are essential for life. Organic chemistry is fundamental due to carbon's unique bonding properties, where it can pair with other elements crucial for life: hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, collectively known as CHNOPS. The vast variety of compounds carbon can form includes those within the four major classes of organic molecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
These organic compounds are not only pivotal in biological processes but also serve key roles in industrial applications, making organic chemistry a significant field of study. Carbon's versatility underpins the structures and functions of biologically essential polymers constructed from repeating units called monomers. Thus, carbon is the basis of organic chemistry and plays a central role in the biochemistry of life.