My past and a future role for inorganic biochemistry

The first part of this paper describes how my interest in bioinorganic chemistry was stimulated more than sixty years ago and how it has developed. The second part concerns a view of the future of the subject as an essential integral part of systems studies including organisms. After describing the essentials of any irreversible system, explaining how it is inevitably linked to its environment for material and energy, I analyse the roles of inorganic ions in this interactive unity to show the way the accidental oxidation of the environment by organisms has led to an inevitable progression of chemotypes in evolution. What is required in the future is detailed knowledge of the analytical content of the different compartmental structures of organisms, their division between free and bound forms, and the timing of their appearance. Historically this information needs to be related to both environmental and gene changes.