The Belief

Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 7:03:55 PM EDT
*This article will be edited as new information is found.

The human body consists of ~7 x 1027 atoms arranged in a highly aperiodic physical structure. Although 41 chemical elements are commonly found in the body's construction, CHON comprises 99% of its atoms. Fully 87% of human body atoms are either hydrogen or oxygen.

Estimated Atomic Composition
of the Lean 70-kg Male Human Body

Somatic atoms are generally present in combined form as molecules or ions, not individual atoms. The molecules of greatest nanomedical interest are incorporated into cells or circulate freely in blood plasma or the interstitial fluid. Table 3-2 summarizes the gross molecular contents of the typical human cell, which is 99.5% water and salts, by molecule count, and contains ~5000 different types of molecules. Appendix B lists 261 of the most common molecular and cellular constituents of human blood, and their normal concentrations in whole blood and plasma. This listing is far from complete. The human body is comprised of ~105 different molecular species, mostly proteinsemdasha large but nonetheless finite molecular parts list. By 1997, at least ~104 of these proteins had been sequenced, ~103 had been spatially mapped, and ~7,000 structures (including proteins, peptides, viruses, protein/nucleic acid complexes, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates) had been registered in the Protein Data Bank maintained at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Estimated Gross Molecular Contents
of a Typical 20-micron Human Cell