Teaching the chemical elements in biochemistry: Elemental biology and metallomics

Abstract

Biochemistry primarily focuses on the non-metal chemical elements carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus in the four groups of building blocks (sugars, lipids, amino acids, and nucleotides) and the corresponding macromolecules. However, at least 10 essential chemical elements of life are metals. This article discusses the consequences of such a bias, presents current knowledge that over 20 chemical elements are required for life, and makes a case for-and suggests benefits of-teaching elemental biology alongside molecular biology and biochemistry, and inorganic chemistry in addition to organic chemistry. A relatively new interdisciplinary field, metallomics, has the potential to be a platform for integration when added to glycomics, lipidomics, proteomics, and genomics. It would fill a major gap in contemporary education, be relevant for many areas of science, and facilitate the teaching of important principles of chemistry in the biological sciences, thus helping students to gain a broader understanding of life processes from the molecular to the systemic biology level.

Keywords: bioelements; biometals; chemical elements.

FIGURE 1

The Biological Periodic Table of the Elements. The essential elements are given for humans, including the uncertainties about the role of chromium in biochemistry (shown in gray). Metals (including hydrogen) are shown in red and non‐metals in green. SPONCH elements are circled. The acronym SPONCH is readily recognizable when reading backwards from sulfur (S)