Hmmm. Like paper money and building-cities-with-lousy-ports-where-one-must-
get-engineers-to-pipe-in-water[0], oxygen didn't get popular until relatively
recently because the nasty side effects far outweigh the benefits[1]. Luckily
for us, life also "routes around damage", and after the available reducing
sinks (Banded Iron Formations, etc.) were used up and the atmosphere began
to positively reek of oxygen [2], eventually enterprising eukaryotes
established effective enzymatic methods of dealing with oxygen overload.
It sounds like Rohit and his new biology friends need to open up across
from this place, selling enyzmatic chasers: catalase, peroxidase, and
superoxide dismutase cocktails.
-Dave
[0] http://idptv.state.id.us/outreach/green/desert/1.html
[1] Organic Chemists (at least in lecture) can get very excited about the
different sorts of damage that occur when one's DNA is halogenated. Looking
at bleach or peroxide jetpacks[3], we see that oxygen is similarly reactive.
[2] Geek Beat Poetry:
http://jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/RogueComCollege/RCC_Lectures/Banded_Iron.html
[3] http://www.discovery.com/area/alttech/alt970417/alttech1.html