The is a monumental reference work that chronicles the "story" of life's dependency on metals . While the encyclopedia itself is a massive technical resource—spanning over 2,500 pages and edited by Robert H. Kretsinger, Vladimir N. Uversky, and Eugene A. Permyakov—it tells a biological narrative about how inanimate minerals became the engines of the living world. The Narrative of the Encyclopedia
: The story shifts as Earth’s atmosphere changed. When photosynthesis released toxic oxygen, metalloproteins evolved to protect cells and harness that same oxygen for new functions, like respiration. Encyclopedia of Metalloproteins
: It documents the massive Nitrogenase complexes—containing up to 38 atoms of iron—that allow plants to "breathe" nitrogen from the air, a process essential for all food on Earth. Technical Scope The is a monumental reference work that chronicles
: The encyclopedia explains the chemistry behind why blood is red in vertebrates (iron) and blue in molluscs (copper). Uversky, and Eugene A
Published by Springer Nature in 2013, the work aims to exhaustively cover the interaction between proteins and metal ions. Encyclopedia of Metalloproteins | Springer Nature Link
The "story" within this encyclopedia follows the evolution and function of metal-binding proteins through several key chapters of biological history: