ReviewOrigins of life and evolution of the biosphere : the journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life2012
Is boron a prebiotic element? A mini-review of the essentiality of boron for the appearance of life on earth.
Review in Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere : the journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- Short-term efficacy of calcium fructoborate on subjects with knee discomfort: a comparative, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study.Clinical interventions in aging · 2014Trial
- Low-Molecular-Weight Polyols as Key Factors in Sulfur- and Borate-Mediated Protomembrane Formation Before the RNA World.Membranes · 2026Review
- Boron as a Molecular Architect of Host-Microbiome Symbiosis: Implications for Dysbiosis and Aging-Related Pathologies.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Borate-Bridged Protolipids: A Prebiotic Route to Abiotic Membranes.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Boron's Double Edge-Antibiotics, Toxins, and the Fine Line Between Them.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Interstep compatibility of a model for the prebiotic synthesis of RNA consistent with Hadean natural history.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- In vitro cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of boric acid on endometrial adenocarcinoma cell lines (HEC-1B and Ischikawa).Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2025Article
- Boron symbiotaxis: a new concept in host-microbiome communication.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Time-resolved crystallography of boric acid binding to the active site serine of the β-lactamase CTX-M-14 and subsequent 1,2-diol esterification.Communications chemistry · 2024Article
- Article
- Association of four metalloids in the serum and urine of individuals with major depressive disorders: a case-control study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Antibacterial Activity of Boron Compounds Against Biofilm-Forming Pathogens.Biological trace element research · 2024Article
- Boron Compound-Based Treatments Against Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infections in Lung Cancer In Vitro Model.Biological trace element research · 2024Article
- Nicotinamide Riboside, a Promising Vitamin BMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- What Can Boron Deficiency Symptoms Tell Us about Its Function and Regulation?Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Toxic effects of excess exposure to boric acid on serum biochemical aspect, hematology and histological alterations and ameliorative potential role of melatonin in rats.Saudi journal of biological sciences · 2022Article
- New Insights into Boron Essentiality in Humans and Animals.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Therapeutic Effects of Newly Synthesized Boron Compounds (BGM and BGD) on Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Biological trace element research · 2022Article
- Ameliorative effect of boric acid against formaldehyde-induced oxidative stress in A549 cell lines.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2020Article
- The Fructoborates: Part of a Family of Naturally Occurring Sugar-Borate Complexes-Biochemistry, Physiology, and Impact on Human Health: a Review.Biological trace element research · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Boron is probably a prebiotic element with special importance in the so-called "sugars world". Boron is not present on Earth in its elemental form. It is found only in compounds, e.g., borax, boric acid, kernite, ulexite, colemanite and other borates. Volcanic spring waters sometimes contain boron-based acids (e.g., boric, metaboric, tetraboric and pyroboric acid). Borates influence the formation of ribofuranose from formaldehyde that feeds the "prebiotic metabolic cycle". The importance of boron in the living world is strongly related to its implications in the prebiotic origins of genetic material; consequently, we believe that throughout the evolution of life, the primary role of boron has been to provide thermal and chemical stability in hostile environments. The complexation of boric acid and borates with organic cis-diols remains the most probable chemical mechanism for the role of this element in the evolution of the living world. Because borates can stabilize ribose and form borate ester nucleotides, boron may have provided an essential contribution to the "pre-RNA world".
Indexed as
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.