In looking at what planets can sustain life, one requirement always includes liquid water. From this we can narrow down our searches to a solar system’s habitable zone, which is the region surrounding a star capable of supporting liquid water.
But are we limiting ourselves too much in our searches? What if life was capable of developing without this basic requirement? A team of researchers attempted to design a hypothetical cell capable of surviving without liquid water. They used Titan as their guinea pig environment (attesting to Titan’s hyperproductivity of complex organic molecules) and developed a cell they dubbed the “azotosome” composed of nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon. This azotosome could operate at cryogenic temperatures (Titan’s surface temperature being -290 degrees Fahrenheit) in a similar manner to how our hydro-operated cell members operate at room temperature.
We thus far only have proof that life evolves on planets with liquid water. Thus, perhaps it is in our best interest to limit our searches. But if these studies suggest this as a possibility, it could open up many more worlds as potential homes for extraterrestrial life.
Model of an Azotosome
Source: Motherboard
Cherie's Astro Blog 
I agree that by limiting our search to planets with liquid water, we may be missing possible planets that harbor life! Maybe the reason why all life on Earth requires water is simply because we HAVE water. Though it seems unlikely to us, it may be that life on other planets evolved without liquid water. Maybe liquid water would even be poisonous to them! The universe is impossibly large, and the chances that life elsewhere looks like creatures on Earth is highly unlikely!
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I think that this is an interesting prospect. Many take it as a given that water is vital for life’s existence, but perhaps there are creatures that can live at the sub-zero temperatures on Titan and can flourish in the ethane rivers that exist on its surface. Unquestioning adherence to the vitality of water could be our undoing in these searches.
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