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Lead is an essential nutrient. Among other things, it's essential for calmodulin, which is a highly conserved protein. There is no eucaryotic life without it. T

Lead is an essential nutrient. Among other things, it's essential for calmodulin, which is a highly conserved protein. There is no eucaryotic life without it. This, and the absence of other "heavy metals" is incorrectly blamed on global warming.

vibrio 2y ago
Interesting. Can you point me to further reading on essential heavy metals in eukaryotes and what is understood about the the dietary levels needed?
- Anotheroneagain 2y ago
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10996673/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10996673/
  - vibrio 2y ago
    Thanks for this. Interesting and surprising, that Pb ++ can substitute so well for Ca ++ in calmodulin. Do you have any thing supporting lead being an essential nutrient? I've not seen anything here or searching showing Lead is essential for eukaryotic life, and that is what I'm really interesting in exploring. Also, understanding the mechanism of any lead toxicity in the context if its essential functions would be of great interest.
    - Anotheroneagain 2y ago
      It doesn't substitute well, it's outright several orders of magnitude more effective at it than calcium. There is no good reason to believe it isn't the correct one. It's also found in all historical bones, and strongly (positively) correlates with social status, as well as with prosperity population wise. Very high levels have been found in Neanderthal teeth. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aau9483 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aau9483
      - vibrio 2y ago
        Pb binds with greater affinity, but is that good? calmodulin is generally though to be regulated by changes in calcium levels. higher affinity cation could inhibit that function, no? That interpretation of the historical data goes counter to the authors view that the lead levels may be anecdotal due to location of a lead mine, and lead levels were not found in an individual from a different site. "Periods of lead exposure during the childhoods of these two French Neanderthals are remarkable, as biogenic lead bands were not apparent in the ~100-ka-old Belgian individual discussed above, and decades of research have shown that there is no safe level for lead in humans and other animals."
        Anotheroneagain 2y ago
        Pb binds with greater affinity, but is that good? Why would you assume that the metal that binds it with the greatest affinity isn't supposed to be there? It isn't uncommon that another atom can activate a protein, albeit poorly. I did my own research, it is certainly essential. It's why moss has dissapeared, for example. calmodulin is generally though to be regulated by changes in calcium levels. Presumably in error. biogenic lead bands were not apparent in the ~100-ka-old Belgian individual discussed above No such data is shown, they measured a 5.4ka individual, in addition to the neanderthals. decades of research have shown that there is no safe level for lead in humans and other animals They got their indices the wrong way round. I don't deny there is a difference, I claim that the healthy state is with lead present.
        vibrio 2y ago
        I appreciate you entertaining my questions. That said, I cannot get past the massive body of evidence supporting the toxicity of lead on a number of systems (blood, neural, kidney etc) from a vast number of sources over many years. Kudos on doing your own research, but I'd suggest caution in applying it. Cheers.
        Anotheroneagain 2y ago
        neural Yes, that especially.

vibrio 2y ago

Interesting. Can you point me to further reading on essential heavy metals in eukaryotes and what is understood about the the dietary levels needed?

Anotheroneagain 2y ago
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10996673/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10996673/
- vibrio 2y ago
  Thanks for this. Interesting and surprising, that Pb ++ can substitute so well for Ca ++ in calmodulin. Do you have any thing supporting lead being an essential nutrient? I've not seen anything here or searching showing Lead is essential for eukaryotic life, and that is what I'm really interesting in exploring. Also, understanding the mechanism of any lead toxicity in the context if its essential functions would be of great interest.
  - Anotheroneagain 2y ago
    It doesn't substitute well, it's outright several orders of magnitude more effective at it than calcium. There is no good reason to believe it isn't the correct one. It's also found in all historical bones, and strongly (positively) correlates with social status, as well as with prosperity population wise. Very high levels have been found in Neanderthal teeth. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aau9483 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aau9483
    - vibrio 2y ago
      Pb binds with greater affinity, but is that good? calmodulin is generally though to be regulated by changes in calcium levels. higher affinity cation could inhibit that function, no? That interpretation of the historical data goes counter to the authors view that the lead levels may be anecdotal due to location of a lead mine, and lead levels were not found in an individual from a different site. "Periods of lead exposure during the childhoods of these two French Neanderthals are remarkable, as biogenic lead bands were not apparent in the ~100-ka-old Belgian individual discussed above, and decades of research have shown that there is no safe level for lead in humans and other animals."
      - Anotheroneagain 2y ago
        Pb binds with greater affinity, but is that good? Why would you assume that the metal that binds it with the greatest affinity isn't supposed to be there? It isn't uncommon that another atom can activate a protein, albeit poorly. I did my own research, it is certainly essential. It's why moss has dissapeared, for example. calmodulin is generally though to be regulated by changes in calcium levels. Presumably in error. biogenic lead bands were not apparent in the ~100-ka-old Belgian individual discussed above No such data is shown, they measured a 5.4ka individual, in addition to the neanderthals. decades of research have shown that there is no safe level for lead in humans and other animals They got their indices the wrong way round. I don't deny there is a difference, I claim that the healthy state is with lead present.
        vibrio 2y ago
        I appreciate you entertaining my questions. That said, I cannot get past the massive body of evidence supporting the toxicity of lead on a number of systems (blood, neural, kidney etc) from a vast number of sources over many years. Kudos on doing your own research, but I'd suggest caution in applying it. Cheers.
        Anotheroneagain 2y ago
        neural Yes, that especially.