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Why isn't aluminium involved in biological processes?


Biological Consequences of Asteroid Mining—Death by Isotope?Why is iron used in the body?Solve this chemical or biological mysteryAre biological macromolecules organic or inorganic compounds?Regarding the mechanism for biological activity of tyramine, amphetamine and ephedrineWhy isn't sucrose a reducing sugar but maltose is?Why does ATP inhibit glycogen synthase?Isn't 11-trans-retinal more stable than 11-cis-retinal?Why Lysine is abbreviated as 'K'?






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8












$begingroup$


There are so many biological processes which are dependent upon ions of lighter metals (upper part of periodic table) such as K+, Na+, Mg2+ and even early transition elements (Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni) but I haven't yet come across dependence of biological phenomena on aluminium. Is it because there is less use of trivalence? Or something else?










share|improve this question









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migrated from biology.stackexchange.com 6 hours ago


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    8












    $begingroup$


    There are so many biological processes which are dependent upon ions of lighter metals (upper part of periodic table) such as K+, Na+, Mg2+ and even early transition elements (Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni) but I haven't yet come across dependence of biological phenomena on aluminium. Is it because there is less use of trivalence? Or something else?










    share|improve this question









    $endgroup$



    migrated from biology.stackexchange.com 6 hours ago


    This question came from our site for biology researchers, academics, and students.




















      8












      8








      8





      $begingroup$


      There are so many biological processes which are dependent upon ions of lighter metals (upper part of periodic table) such as K+, Na+, Mg2+ and even early transition elements (Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni) but I haven't yet come across dependence of biological phenomena on aluminium. Is it because there is less use of trivalence? Or something else?










      share|improve this question









      $endgroup$




      There are so many biological processes which are dependent upon ions of lighter metals (upper part of periodic table) such as K+, Na+, Mg2+ and even early transition elements (Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni) but I haven't yet come across dependence of biological phenomena on aluminium. Is it because there is less use of trivalence? Or something else?







      biochemistry






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      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 8 hours ago









      onehappyboionehappyboi

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      migrated from biology.stackexchange.com 6 hours ago


      This question came from our site for biology researchers, academics, and students.









      migrated from biology.stackexchange.com 6 hours ago


      This question came from our site for biology researchers, academics, and students.






















          1 Answer
          1






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          8












          $begingroup$

          One argument put forward has been that aluminum is very poorly bioavailable, moreso than many other elements. Aluminum oxide is very insoluble in water. In addition, any dissolved aluminum that does form in seawater is likely to be precipitated by silicic acid, forming hydroxyaluminosilicates.



          From Chris Exeter's 2009 article in Trends in Biochemical Sciences:




          But how has the by far most abundant metal in the Earth's crust remained hidden from biochemical evolution? There are powerful arguments, many of which influenced Darwin's own thinking [15], which identify natural selection as acting upon geochemistry as it acts upon biochemistry. I have argued previously that the lithospheric cycling of aluminium, from the rain-fuelled dissolution of mountains through to the subduction of sedimentary aluminium and its re-emergence in mountain building, depends upon the ‘natural selection’ of increasingly insoluble mineral phases of the metal [7]. The success of this abiotic cycle is reflected in the observation that less than 0.001% of cycled aluminium enters and passes through the biotic cycle. In addition, only an insignificant fraction of the aluminium entering the biotic cycle, living things, is biologically reactive. However, my own understanding of such an explanation of how life on Earth evolved in the absence of biologically available aluminium was arrived at by a somewhat serendipitous route! In studying the acute toxicity of aluminium in Atlantic salmon I discovered that the aqueous form of silicon, silicic acid, protected against the toxicity of aluminium [16]. Subsequent work showed that protection was afforded through the formation of hydroxyaluminosilicates (HAS) [17] which, intriguingly, are one of the sparingly soluble secondary mineral phases of the abiotic cycling of aluminium! The discovery that silicic acid was a geochemical control of the biological availability of aluminium, though now seemingly obvious in hindsight, was a seminal moment in my understanding of the bioinorganic chemistry of aluminium, and although it helped me to understand the non-selection of aluminium in biochemical evolution, it also provided me with a missing link in the wider understanding of the biological essentiality of silicon.




          Dr. Exeter is one of the few scholars who appears to have written in depth about this issue. Thus, perhaps it is fair to say that (a) your question doesn't have a definitive answer, but (b) the poorly accessible nature of aluminum over geological time due to its interaction with and precipitation by silicic acid is the leading hypothesis.



          It's worth noting that when aluminum is artificially introduced into metalloenzymes in place of naturally occuring metals, the resulting alumino-enzymes can retain activity, as a 1999 article in JACS by Merkx & Averill shows.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$












          • $begingroup$
            Do you know what is the average solubility of the most common hydroxyaluminosilicates? Would you also happen to know how it is handled in the body of mammals?
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            2 hours ago











          • $begingroup$
            @Veritas no I don't know offhand. I have seen many studies where folks have shown that intentional ingestion of silicic acid lowers aluminum excretion in the the urine, though. See e.g. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352396417304280
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            2 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            I have seen them as well (in the context of Alzheimer's studies for instance), but I'm wondering in this context of this (very interesting and plausible) explanation as many silicic acid salts aren't much soluble either (Ca2SiO4, Mg2SiO4, Fe2SiO4, Mn2SiO4 for instance), which makes me wonder about the source of the purported relative impact on Aluminum solubility.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            For the explanation to hold true, which it very much might be, that Al did not take a major role in biological processes because it is rendered insoluble by the action of Si(OH)4, one needs to show not only that hydroxyaluminosilicates aren't much soluble, but that this contrasts with the case of other elements that are involved in biological processes (Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, Mo, ...). Demonstrating the relative uniqueness of Al in that aspect is the very first step in demonstrating that this is the reason why it isn't involved in biological processes.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago







          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Agreed. That's why I said "leading hypothesis" in my answer, but it is definitely an active research area. I did find this paper agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013JC009202 , which says that dissolved aluminum is single-digit nanomolar in sea water, but also seems to argue against the hypothesis here.
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            1 hour ago













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          1 Answer
          1






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          active

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          active

          oldest

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          $begingroup$

          One argument put forward has been that aluminum is very poorly bioavailable, moreso than many other elements. Aluminum oxide is very insoluble in water. In addition, any dissolved aluminum that does form in seawater is likely to be precipitated by silicic acid, forming hydroxyaluminosilicates.



          From Chris Exeter's 2009 article in Trends in Biochemical Sciences:




          But how has the by far most abundant metal in the Earth's crust remained hidden from biochemical evolution? There are powerful arguments, many of which influenced Darwin's own thinking [15], which identify natural selection as acting upon geochemistry as it acts upon biochemistry. I have argued previously that the lithospheric cycling of aluminium, from the rain-fuelled dissolution of mountains through to the subduction of sedimentary aluminium and its re-emergence in mountain building, depends upon the ‘natural selection’ of increasingly insoluble mineral phases of the metal [7]. The success of this abiotic cycle is reflected in the observation that less than 0.001% of cycled aluminium enters and passes through the biotic cycle. In addition, only an insignificant fraction of the aluminium entering the biotic cycle, living things, is biologically reactive. However, my own understanding of such an explanation of how life on Earth evolved in the absence of biologically available aluminium was arrived at by a somewhat serendipitous route! In studying the acute toxicity of aluminium in Atlantic salmon I discovered that the aqueous form of silicon, silicic acid, protected against the toxicity of aluminium [16]. Subsequent work showed that protection was afforded through the formation of hydroxyaluminosilicates (HAS) [17] which, intriguingly, are one of the sparingly soluble secondary mineral phases of the abiotic cycling of aluminium! The discovery that silicic acid was a geochemical control of the biological availability of aluminium, though now seemingly obvious in hindsight, was a seminal moment in my understanding of the bioinorganic chemistry of aluminium, and although it helped me to understand the non-selection of aluminium in biochemical evolution, it also provided me with a missing link in the wider understanding of the biological essentiality of silicon.




          Dr. Exeter is one of the few scholars who appears to have written in depth about this issue. Thus, perhaps it is fair to say that (a) your question doesn't have a definitive answer, but (b) the poorly accessible nature of aluminum over geological time due to its interaction with and precipitation by silicic acid is the leading hypothesis.



          It's worth noting that when aluminum is artificially introduced into metalloenzymes in place of naturally occuring metals, the resulting alumino-enzymes can retain activity, as a 1999 article in JACS by Merkx & Averill shows.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$












          • $begingroup$
            Do you know what is the average solubility of the most common hydroxyaluminosilicates? Would you also happen to know how it is handled in the body of mammals?
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            2 hours ago











          • $begingroup$
            @Veritas no I don't know offhand. I have seen many studies where folks have shown that intentional ingestion of silicic acid lowers aluminum excretion in the the urine, though. See e.g. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352396417304280
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            2 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            I have seen them as well (in the context of Alzheimer's studies for instance), but I'm wondering in this context of this (very interesting and plausible) explanation as many silicic acid salts aren't much soluble either (Ca2SiO4, Mg2SiO4, Fe2SiO4, Mn2SiO4 for instance), which makes me wonder about the source of the purported relative impact on Aluminum solubility.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            For the explanation to hold true, which it very much might be, that Al did not take a major role in biological processes because it is rendered insoluble by the action of Si(OH)4, one needs to show not only that hydroxyaluminosilicates aren't much soluble, but that this contrasts with the case of other elements that are involved in biological processes (Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, Mo, ...). Demonstrating the relative uniqueness of Al in that aspect is the very first step in demonstrating that this is the reason why it isn't involved in biological processes.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago







          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Agreed. That's why I said "leading hypothesis" in my answer, but it is definitely an active research area. I did find this paper agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013JC009202 , which says that dissolved aluminum is single-digit nanomolar in sea water, but also seems to argue against the hypothesis here.
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            1 hour ago















          8












          $begingroup$

          One argument put forward has been that aluminum is very poorly bioavailable, moreso than many other elements. Aluminum oxide is very insoluble in water. In addition, any dissolved aluminum that does form in seawater is likely to be precipitated by silicic acid, forming hydroxyaluminosilicates.



          From Chris Exeter's 2009 article in Trends in Biochemical Sciences:




          But how has the by far most abundant metal in the Earth's crust remained hidden from biochemical evolution? There are powerful arguments, many of which influenced Darwin's own thinking [15], which identify natural selection as acting upon geochemistry as it acts upon biochemistry. I have argued previously that the lithospheric cycling of aluminium, from the rain-fuelled dissolution of mountains through to the subduction of sedimentary aluminium and its re-emergence in mountain building, depends upon the ‘natural selection’ of increasingly insoluble mineral phases of the metal [7]. The success of this abiotic cycle is reflected in the observation that less than 0.001% of cycled aluminium enters and passes through the biotic cycle. In addition, only an insignificant fraction of the aluminium entering the biotic cycle, living things, is biologically reactive. However, my own understanding of such an explanation of how life on Earth evolved in the absence of biologically available aluminium was arrived at by a somewhat serendipitous route! In studying the acute toxicity of aluminium in Atlantic salmon I discovered that the aqueous form of silicon, silicic acid, protected against the toxicity of aluminium [16]. Subsequent work showed that protection was afforded through the formation of hydroxyaluminosilicates (HAS) [17] which, intriguingly, are one of the sparingly soluble secondary mineral phases of the abiotic cycling of aluminium! The discovery that silicic acid was a geochemical control of the biological availability of aluminium, though now seemingly obvious in hindsight, was a seminal moment in my understanding of the bioinorganic chemistry of aluminium, and although it helped me to understand the non-selection of aluminium in biochemical evolution, it also provided me with a missing link in the wider understanding of the biological essentiality of silicon.




          Dr. Exeter is one of the few scholars who appears to have written in depth about this issue. Thus, perhaps it is fair to say that (a) your question doesn't have a definitive answer, but (b) the poorly accessible nature of aluminum over geological time due to its interaction with and precipitation by silicic acid is the leading hypothesis.



          It's worth noting that when aluminum is artificially introduced into metalloenzymes in place of naturally occuring metals, the resulting alumino-enzymes can retain activity, as a 1999 article in JACS by Merkx & Averill shows.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$












          • $begingroup$
            Do you know what is the average solubility of the most common hydroxyaluminosilicates? Would you also happen to know how it is handled in the body of mammals?
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            2 hours ago











          • $begingroup$
            @Veritas no I don't know offhand. I have seen many studies where folks have shown that intentional ingestion of silicic acid lowers aluminum excretion in the the urine, though. See e.g. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352396417304280
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            2 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            I have seen them as well (in the context of Alzheimer's studies for instance), but I'm wondering in this context of this (very interesting and plausible) explanation as many silicic acid salts aren't much soluble either (Ca2SiO4, Mg2SiO4, Fe2SiO4, Mn2SiO4 for instance), which makes me wonder about the source of the purported relative impact on Aluminum solubility.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            For the explanation to hold true, which it very much might be, that Al did not take a major role in biological processes because it is rendered insoluble by the action of Si(OH)4, one needs to show not only that hydroxyaluminosilicates aren't much soluble, but that this contrasts with the case of other elements that are involved in biological processes (Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, Mo, ...). Demonstrating the relative uniqueness of Al in that aspect is the very first step in demonstrating that this is the reason why it isn't involved in biological processes.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago







          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Agreed. That's why I said "leading hypothesis" in my answer, but it is definitely an active research area. I did find this paper agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013JC009202 , which says that dissolved aluminum is single-digit nanomolar in sea water, but also seems to argue against the hypothesis here.
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            1 hour ago













          8












          8








          8





          $begingroup$

          One argument put forward has been that aluminum is very poorly bioavailable, moreso than many other elements. Aluminum oxide is very insoluble in water. In addition, any dissolved aluminum that does form in seawater is likely to be precipitated by silicic acid, forming hydroxyaluminosilicates.



          From Chris Exeter's 2009 article in Trends in Biochemical Sciences:




          But how has the by far most abundant metal in the Earth's crust remained hidden from biochemical evolution? There are powerful arguments, many of which influenced Darwin's own thinking [15], which identify natural selection as acting upon geochemistry as it acts upon biochemistry. I have argued previously that the lithospheric cycling of aluminium, from the rain-fuelled dissolution of mountains through to the subduction of sedimentary aluminium and its re-emergence in mountain building, depends upon the ‘natural selection’ of increasingly insoluble mineral phases of the metal [7]. The success of this abiotic cycle is reflected in the observation that less than 0.001% of cycled aluminium enters and passes through the biotic cycle. In addition, only an insignificant fraction of the aluminium entering the biotic cycle, living things, is biologically reactive. However, my own understanding of such an explanation of how life on Earth evolved in the absence of biologically available aluminium was arrived at by a somewhat serendipitous route! In studying the acute toxicity of aluminium in Atlantic salmon I discovered that the aqueous form of silicon, silicic acid, protected against the toxicity of aluminium [16]. Subsequent work showed that protection was afforded through the formation of hydroxyaluminosilicates (HAS) [17] which, intriguingly, are one of the sparingly soluble secondary mineral phases of the abiotic cycling of aluminium! The discovery that silicic acid was a geochemical control of the biological availability of aluminium, though now seemingly obvious in hindsight, was a seminal moment in my understanding of the bioinorganic chemistry of aluminium, and although it helped me to understand the non-selection of aluminium in biochemical evolution, it also provided me with a missing link in the wider understanding of the biological essentiality of silicon.




          Dr. Exeter is one of the few scholars who appears to have written in depth about this issue. Thus, perhaps it is fair to say that (a) your question doesn't have a definitive answer, but (b) the poorly accessible nature of aluminum over geological time due to its interaction with and precipitation by silicic acid is the leading hypothesis.



          It's worth noting that when aluminum is artificially introduced into metalloenzymes in place of naturally occuring metals, the resulting alumino-enzymes can retain activity, as a 1999 article in JACS by Merkx & Averill shows.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$



          One argument put forward has been that aluminum is very poorly bioavailable, moreso than many other elements. Aluminum oxide is very insoluble in water. In addition, any dissolved aluminum that does form in seawater is likely to be precipitated by silicic acid, forming hydroxyaluminosilicates.



          From Chris Exeter's 2009 article in Trends in Biochemical Sciences:




          But how has the by far most abundant metal in the Earth's crust remained hidden from biochemical evolution? There are powerful arguments, many of which influenced Darwin's own thinking [15], which identify natural selection as acting upon geochemistry as it acts upon biochemistry. I have argued previously that the lithospheric cycling of aluminium, from the rain-fuelled dissolution of mountains through to the subduction of sedimentary aluminium and its re-emergence in mountain building, depends upon the ‘natural selection’ of increasingly insoluble mineral phases of the metal [7]. The success of this abiotic cycle is reflected in the observation that less than 0.001% of cycled aluminium enters and passes through the biotic cycle. In addition, only an insignificant fraction of the aluminium entering the biotic cycle, living things, is biologically reactive. However, my own understanding of such an explanation of how life on Earth evolved in the absence of biologically available aluminium was arrived at by a somewhat serendipitous route! In studying the acute toxicity of aluminium in Atlantic salmon I discovered that the aqueous form of silicon, silicic acid, protected against the toxicity of aluminium [16]. Subsequent work showed that protection was afforded through the formation of hydroxyaluminosilicates (HAS) [17] which, intriguingly, are one of the sparingly soluble secondary mineral phases of the abiotic cycling of aluminium! The discovery that silicic acid was a geochemical control of the biological availability of aluminium, though now seemingly obvious in hindsight, was a seminal moment in my understanding of the bioinorganic chemistry of aluminium, and although it helped me to understand the non-selection of aluminium in biochemical evolution, it also provided me with a missing link in the wider understanding of the biological essentiality of silicon.




          Dr. Exeter is one of the few scholars who appears to have written in depth about this issue. Thus, perhaps it is fair to say that (a) your question doesn't have a definitive answer, but (b) the poorly accessible nature of aluminum over geological time due to its interaction with and precipitation by silicic acid is the leading hypothesis.



          It's worth noting that when aluminum is artificially introduced into metalloenzymes in place of naturally occuring metals, the resulting alumino-enzymes can retain activity, as a 1999 article in JACS by Merkx & Averill shows.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 4 hours ago

























          answered 4 hours ago









          Curt F.Curt F.

          16.6k1 gold badge39 silver badges93 bronze badges




          16.6k1 gold badge39 silver badges93 bronze badges











          • $begingroup$
            Do you know what is the average solubility of the most common hydroxyaluminosilicates? Would you also happen to know how it is handled in the body of mammals?
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            2 hours ago











          • $begingroup$
            @Veritas no I don't know offhand. I have seen many studies where folks have shown that intentional ingestion of silicic acid lowers aluminum excretion in the the urine, though. See e.g. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352396417304280
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            2 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            I have seen them as well (in the context of Alzheimer's studies for instance), but I'm wondering in this context of this (very interesting and plausible) explanation as many silicic acid salts aren't much soluble either (Ca2SiO4, Mg2SiO4, Fe2SiO4, Mn2SiO4 for instance), which makes me wonder about the source of the purported relative impact on Aluminum solubility.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            For the explanation to hold true, which it very much might be, that Al did not take a major role in biological processes because it is rendered insoluble by the action of Si(OH)4, one needs to show not only that hydroxyaluminosilicates aren't much soluble, but that this contrasts with the case of other elements that are involved in biological processes (Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, Mo, ...). Demonstrating the relative uniqueness of Al in that aspect is the very first step in demonstrating that this is the reason why it isn't involved in biological processes.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago







          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Agreed. That's why I said "leading hypothesis" in my answer, but it is definitely an active research area. I did find this paper agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013JC009202 , which says that dissolved aluminum is single-digit nanomolar in sea water, but also seems to argue against the hypothesis here.
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            1 hour ago
















          • $begingroup$
            Do you know what is the average solubility of the most common hydroxyaluminosilicates? Would you also happen to know how it is handled in the body of mammals?
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            2 hours ago











          • $begingroup$
            @Veritas no I don't know offhand. I have seen many studies where folks have shown that intentional ingestion of silicic acid lowers aluminum excretion in the the urine, though. See e.g. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352396417304280
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            2 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            I have seen them as well (in the context of Alzheimer's studies for instance), but I'm wondering in this context of this (very interesting and plausible) explanation as many silicic acid salts aren't much soluble either (Ca2SiO4, Mg2SiO4, Fe2SiO4, Mn2SiO4 for instance), which makes me wonder about the source of the purported relative impact on Aluminum solubility.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            For the explanation to hold true, which it very much might be, that Al did not take a major role in biological processes because it is rendered insoluble by the action of Si(OH)4, one needs to show not only that hydroxyaluminosilicates aren't much soluble, but that this contrasts with the case of other elements that are involved in biological processes (Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, Mo, ...). Demonstrating the relative uniqueness of Al in that aspect is the very first step in demonstrating that this is the reason why it isn't involved in biological processes.
            $endgroup$
            – Veritas
            1 hour ago







          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Agreed. That's why I said "leading hypothesis" in my answer, but it is definitely an active research area. I did find this paper agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013JC009202 , which says that dissolved aluminum is single-digit nanomolar in sea water, but also seems to argue against the hypothesis here.
            $endgroup$
            – Curt F.
            1 hour ago















          $begingroup$
          Do you know what is the average solubility of the most common hydroxyaluminosilicates? Would you also happen to know how it is handled in the body of mammals?
          $endgroup$
          – Veritas
          2 hours ago





          $begingroup$
          Do you know what is the average solubility of the most common hydroxyaluminosilicates? Would you also happen to know how it is handled in the body of mammals?
          $endgroup$
          – Veritas
          2 hours ago













          $begingroup$
          @Veritas no I don't know offhand. I have seen many studies where folks have shown that intentional ingestion of silicic acid lowers aluminum excretion in the the urine, though. See e.g. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352396417304280
          $endgroup$
          – Curt F.
          2 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @Veritas no I don't know offhand. I have seen many studies where folks have shown that intentional ingestion of silicic acid lowers aluminum excretion in the the urine, though. See e.g. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352396417304280
          $endgroup$
          – Curt F.
          2 hours ago




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          I have seen them as well (in the context of Alzheimer's studies for instance), but I'm wondering in this context of this (very interesting and plausible) explanation as many silicic acid salts aren't much soluble either (Ca2SiO4, Mg2SiO4, Fe2SiO4, Mn2SiO4 for instance), which makes me wonder about the source of the purported relative impact on Aluminum solubility.
          $endgroup$
          – Veritas
          1 hour ago




          $begingroup$
          I have seen them as well (in the context of Alzheimer's studies for instance), but I'm wondering in this context of this (very interesting and plausible) explanation as many silicic acid salts aren't much soluble either (Ca2SiO4, Mg2SiO4, Fe2SiO4, Mn2SiO4 for instance), which makes me wonder about the source of the purported relative impact on Aluminum solubility.
          $endgroup$
          – Veritas
          1 hour ago




          1




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          $begingroup$
          For the explanation to hold true, which it very much might be, that Al did not take a major role in biological processes because it is rendered insoluble by the action of Si(OH)4, one needs to show not only that hydroxyaluminosilicates aren't much soluble, but that this contrasts with the case of other elements that are involved in biological processes (Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, Mo, ...). Demonstrating the relative uniqueness of Al in that aspect is the very first step in demonstrating that this is the reason why it isn't involved in biological processes.
          $endgroup$
          – Veritas
          1 hour ago





          $begingroup$
          For the explanation to hold true, which it very much might be, that Al did not take a major role in biological processes because it is rendered insoluble by the action of Si(OH)4, one needs to show not only that hydroxyaluminosilicates aren't much soluble, but that this contrasts with the case of other elements that are involved in biological processes (Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, Mo, ...). Demonstrating the relative uniqueness of Al in that aspect is the very first step in demonstrating that this is the reason why it isn't involved in biological processes.
          $endgroup$
          – Veritas
          1 hour ago





          1




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          $begingroup$
          Agreed. That's why I said "leading hypothesis" in my answer, but it is definitely an active research area. I did find this paper agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013JC009202 , which says that dissolved aluminum is single-digit nanomolar in sea water, but also seems to argue against the hypothesis here.
          $endgroup$
          – Curt F.
          1 hour ago




          $begingroup$
          Agreed. That's why I said "leading hypothesis" in my answer, but it is definitely an active research area. I did find this paper agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013JC009202 , which says that dissolved aluminum is single-digit nanomolar in sea water, but also seems to argue against the hypothesis here.
          $endgroup$
          – Curt F.
          1 hour ago

















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