ABSTRACT
This fourth chapter is concerned with the phenomenon of living matter. Living species are capable of taking the required chemical elements against the concentration gradient. Life, as we know, is (H-C-N-O)-based, relying on the number of bulk (Na-Mg-P-S-Cl-K-Ca) and trace elements (Li-B-F-Si-V-Cr-Mn-Fe-Co-Ni-Cu-Zn-As-Se-Mo-W). The vast majority of essential trace elements serve as key components of the enzyme system or proteins with vital functions. Only L-amino acids are found in proteins in living organisms and D-sugars in RNA and DNA. To estimate the closeness of different abundance curves, one should evaluate the relations between elements and groups of life-essential elements and various media. The abundance ratios of chemical elements for selected groups of elements for a particular medium and living matter, corrected by the values of concentration factors, should be close to one in spacetime region when and where life originated. The relation of the uptake of essential elements to yield or growth may be considered as a definition of essentiality. There is a rather narrow range of adequacy of element concentration in the organisms. The concentration factor might depend on an external magnetic field and other parameters characteristic of the environment in which life originated.
