Elements · ← Be Beryllium · C Carbon →
Boron is used in a form of cancer radiotherapy and is needed by plants to build their cell walls.
| Symbol | B |
|---|---|
| Atomic number | 5 |
| Standard atomic weight | 10.81 |
| Group | 13 |
| Period | 2 |
| Block | p-block |
| Category | Metalloid |
| Standard state | Solid |
| Discovered | 1808 |
Source: PubChem, Boron (periodic table data, retrieved 2026-10-19). Group and period follow the standard 18-column periodic table.
O'Neill and colleagues showed Arabidopsis growth depends on borate cross-links in the cell-wall pectin rhamnogalacturonan II: dwarf mur1 mutants had only half of it cross-linked, and adding borate rescued the defect.
As reported in: O'Neill, Eberhard, Albersheim et al. (2001). Requirement of Borate Cross-Linking of Cell Wall Rhamnogalacturonan II for Arabidopsis Growth. Science. doi:10.1126/science.1062319
Abstract only
Barth, Coderre and colleagues reviewed boron neutron capture therapy, in which boron-10 is hit by low-energy neutrons and gives off high-energy-transfer alpha particles and lithium-7 nuclei; sodium borocaptate and boronophenylalanine are the two boron drugs used in patients.
As reported in: Barth, Coderre, Vicente et al. (2005). Boron Neutron Capture Therapy of Cancer: Current Status and Future Prospects. Clinical Cancer Research. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-05-0035
Found by name, common compounds and chemical formulas in each entry.
Search Google Patents for boron in biological and medical uses: all patents · recent applications (2022+)
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