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Calcium - how and why?
1Laboratory of Cellular Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York 10021, USA. jaiswaj@mail.rockefeller.edu
Journal of Biosciences
|September 25, 2001
Abstract:
Calcium is among the most commonly used ions, in a multitude of biological functions, so much so that it is impossible to imagine life without calcium. In this article I have attempted to address the question as to how calcium has achieved this status with a brief mention of the history of calcium research in biology. It appears that during the origin and early evolution of life the Ca2+ ion was given a unique opportunity to be used in several biological processes because of its unusual physical and chemical properties.