Surely I am not the only one on planet earth that would be interested in a listing of all the basic atomic elements to be found in living things. And where. And even how used.

It is well known that all forms of life on earth consist mostly of the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. And these are even plentiful in the air as water vapor and carbon dioxide, besides the simple nitrogen. But we now know of perhaps 80 different basic elements, with stable atoms, besides the radioactive or unstable elements. And we have heard of a few of these having a normal place in nature.

For example, we have calcium in our bones, iron in our blood, sodium and chlorine in our table salt, along with a dash of iodine. Then some add zinc, fluorine, manganese, copper, phosphorous, and potassium to their diets, along with such far out items as chromium, molybdenum, boron, nickel, silicon and vanadium. But why? I surely don’t know.

Scientists say there is one atom of magnesium in each molecule of chlorophyll. And diatoms in sea water are known to make good use of silicon.

But what all goes where?

Q. 1. Besides atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, the atoms of which other basic elements are properly located anywhere in or attached to the genetic code in man?

Q. 2. Just beyond that, the atoms of which other basic elements are otherwise to normally be found in the living cell in humans? [I’m thinking of iron, for example, as in blood cells, and calcium, as in bone cells.]

Q. 3. Going outside the cell proper, the atoms of which other basic elements, if any, might normally be used by the body in other ways?

Q. 4. And going beyond man, are there any other such basic elements to be found in, or which are used by, other life forms on earth which are in the final analysis somehow essential to the lives of all of us?

I would really enjoy reading a listing of all of the basic atomic elements, with where they are used in living things. I would be surprised if radioactive atoms properly belonged in the living cell. And maybe no particular place can be found for the so-called “rare earths”. But where do all the others fit in? Inquisitive brains, such as mine, want to know.

James Tranter
4029 Rio Pinar Dr.
Augusta, GA 30906