Abstract
Which elements are essential for human life? Here we make an element-by-element journey through the periodic table and attempt to assess whether elements are essential or not, and if they are, whether there is a relevant code for them in the human genome. There are many difficulties such as the human biochemistry of several so-called essential elements is not well understood, and it is not clear how we should classify elements that are involved in the destruction of invading microorganisms, or elements which are essential for microorganisms with which we live in symbiosis. In general, genes do not code for the elements themselves, but for specific chemical species, i.e. for the element, its oxidation state, type and number of coordinated ligands, and the coordination geometry. Today, the biological periodic table is in a position somewhat similar to Mendeleev's chemical periodic table of 1869: there are gaps and we need to do more research to fill them. The periodic table also offers potential for novel therapeutic and diagnostic agents, based on not only essential elements, but also non-essential elements, and on radionuclides. Although the potential for inorganic chemistry in medicine was realized more than 2000 years ago, this area of research is still in its infancy. Future advances in the design of inorganic drugs require more knowledge of their mechanism of action, including target sites and metabolism. Temporal speciation of elements in their biological environments at the atomic level is a major challenge, for which new methods are urgently needed.
Highlights
The question ‘Which elements are essential for human life?’ is frequently asked and seems simple enough2015 The Authors
The growth of weaning rats fed on diets supplemented by Cd at levels normally found in foods showed a small but consistent increase, e.g. 13% growth increase for 0.2 ppm Cd2+ sulfate
We have reviewed very briefly the role of the elements of the periodic table in human life
Summary
Cite this article: Chellan P, Sadler PJ. 2015 The elements of life and medicines. Phil. 2015 The elements of life and medicines. Which elements are essential for human life? We make an element-by-element journey through the periodic table and attempt to assess whether elements are essential or not, and if they are, whether there is a relevant code for them in the human genome. The periodic table offers potential for novel therapeutic and diagnostic agents, based on essential elements, and non-essential elements, and on radionuclides. The potential for inorganic chemistry in medicine was realized more than 2000 years ago, this area of research is still in its infancy. Temporal speciation of elements in their biological environments at the atomic level is a major challenge, for which new methods are urgently needed
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More From: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
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