Life on earth is carbon-based, but carbon-based life is impossible without metals. All living organisms, without exception, need metals to live. And so, all organisms must carefully manage their metal nutrition. They must find and take up enough metals, store metals if necessary, and apportion metals correctly to different organs, cells, organelles, and finally to specific proteins and enzymes. And, to avoid having too much of a good thing, all living organisms must also dispose of any surplus metal. The question is how? I have devoted my academic career to studying one metal, namely copper. Like the more familiar metals…
