Question: Where does the carbon come from?

Matt Keith answered on 11 Jun 2019:

On Earth, carbon comes from lots of different places – anything living is based around carbon and it is the main atom in proteins, DNA, body tissues and everything that makes you, you!

Originally, carbon atoms, like all other atoms, are made in stars through a process called nuclear fusion. Initially, this involves hydrogen nuclei colliding together to form helium. As the stars get older and all the hydrogen is used up, helium nuclei start to collide instead to form lithium and beryllium. These larger atoms then also fuse together to make every element that we know of!