The long history of iron in the Universe and in health and disease.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Not long after the Big Bang, iron began to play a central role in the Universe and soon became mired in the tangle of biochemistry that is the prima essentia of life. Since life's addiction to iron transcends the oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere, living things must be protected from the potentially dangerous mix of iron and oxygen. The human being possesses grams of this potentially toxic transition metal, which is shuttling through his oxygen-rich humor. Since long before the birth of modern medicine, the blood-vibrant red from a massive abundance of hemoglobin iron-has been a focus for health experts.

Scope of review

We describe the current understanding of iron metabolism, highlight the many important discoveries that accreted this knowledge, and describe

SUBMITTER: Sheftel AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3258305 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature