JoshuaSlowpoke777@lemmy.world to

Ask Science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 10 months ago

Do we have any theories as to why complex life eventually started requiring various metal elements as micronutrients?

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Do we have any theories as to why complex life eventually started requiring various metal elements as micronutrients?

JoshuaSlowpoke777@lemmy.world to

Ask Science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 10 months ago

For example, why did zinc, of all things, start getting utilized by brain and prostate tissue in humans?

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10 months ago
I’m guessing the main reason is “why not”. It’s in the environment, and one day some critter mutated a new process that involved it.

It’s not just complex life, either. Bacteria use all kinds of strange elements in various enzymes and complexes.

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