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The biochemistry of toxic elements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2009

J. M. Wood ,
Y. -T. Fanchiang  and
W. P. Ridley
J. M. Wood
Affiliation:
Freshwater Biological Institute, Department of Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, P.O. Box 100, Navarre, Minnesota 55392, U.S.A.
Y. -T. Fanchiang
Affiliation:
Freshwater Biological Institute, Department of Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, P.O. Box 100, Navarre, Minnesota 55392, U.S.A.
W. P. Ridley
Affiliation:
Freshwater Biological Institute, Department of Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, P.O. Box 100, Navarre, Minnesota 55392, U.S.A.
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Extract

In 1968 it was discovered that mercury could be biomethylated to give methylmercury as the major product (Wood, Kennedy & Rosen, 1968; Jensen & Jernelöv, 1969). This discovery has proved to be important in two respects: (a) it provided us with the recognition that biological systems are capable of synthesizing very toxic organometallic compounds from relatively innocuous inorganic precursors, and (b) it opened the door to the study of organometallic compounds produced by biological mechanisms in the aqueous environment.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , November 1978 , pp. 467 - 479
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

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References

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