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The remaining elements found in living things are primarily metals that play a role in determining protein structure. Examples include iron, essential to hemoglobin; and magnesium, essential to chlorophyll. Some elements are essential only to certain taxonomic groups of organisms, particularly the prokaryotes.
The metals copper, zinc, iron, and manganese are examples of metals that are essential for the normal functioning of most plants and the bodies of most animals, such as the human body. A few ( calcium , potassium , sodium ) are present in relatively larger amounts, whereas most others are trace metals , present in smaller but important amounts ...
Some metals are more abundant in nature, such as zinc (as Zn 2+), iron (as Fe 2+ and Fe 3+), and magnesium (as Mg 2+). Some trace elements are not metals, such as selenium. "Mineral" is jargon for compounds that contain metal ions, more specifically "inorganic nutrients, usually required in small amts. from less than 1 to 2500 mg per day". [5]
Bioinorganic chemistry is a field that examines the role of metals in biology.Bioinorganic chemistry includes the study of both natural phenomena such as the behavior of metalloproteins as well as artificially introduced metals, including those that are non-essential, in medicine and toxicology.
Finally, although mineral and elements are in many ways synonymous, minerals are only bioavailable to the extent that they can be absorbed. To be absorbed, minerals either must be soluble or readily extractable by the consuming organism. For example, molybdenum is an essential mineral, but metallic molybdenum has no nutritional benefit.
Fossil skeletal parts from extinct belemnite cephalopods of the Jurassic – these contain mineralized calcite and aragonite.. Biomineralization, also written biomineralisation, is the process by which living organisms produce minerals, [a] often resulting in hardened or stiffened mineralized tissues.
Scientific analysis of food and nutrients began during the chemical revolution in the late 18th century. Chemists in the 18th and 19th centuries experimented with different elements and food sources to develop theories of nutrition. [1] Modern nutrition science began in the 1910s as individual micronutrients began to be identified.
Hypotheses proposed for how elements became essential is their relative quantity in the environment as life formed. This has produced research on the origin of life; for instance, Orgel and Crick hypothesized that life was extraterrestrial due to the alleged low abundance of molybdenum on early Earth (it is now suspected that there were larger ...