[en] Actinide elements, all radioactive, are present on Earth for a period several orders of magnitude longer than the life cycle of a human being. Their toxicology is therefore a societal issue, even in the absence of accidental nuclear events. Since the first studies conducted during World War II, actinide toxicologists have studied their retention and excretion rates, their physiological impact in case of exposure and their main biological targets. With the increasing access to unconventional spectroscopic and analytical tools and the growing role of modeling and structural biology, the understanding of the impact of actinides on living organisms at the biomolecular level has improved. The modes of interaction with metabolites and proteins, from a thermodynamic and structural point of view as well as their biological activity, have been better and better described. This also means understanding the mechanisms of complexation and the influence of physicochemical form on affinity, exploring their consequences on the function of proteins/enzymes for certain targets. This article covers twenty years of so-called 'bio-actinide chemistry' with a selection of examples, illustrating the complementarity of the scientific disciplines involved