Haemoglobin: Red Blood Cells That Carry Oxygen

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Haemoglobin is a red pigment in the red blood cells that carry oxygen. The main function is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and to bring CO2 back to the lungs. Oxhemoglobin is when it is saturated with oxygen and deoxyhemoglobin is when it’s not saturated with oxygen. The haemoglobin contains two alpha globins and two beta globins. The alpha chain has 141 amino acids and the beta chain has 146 amino acids. Each chain has one heme molecule. The heme molecule has a porphyrin ring which contains four pyrrole molecules connected together. It also has an iron ion in the centre. Oxygen ties to the iron hard. If the iron atoms bind to the oxygen then the oxygen can’t be released. The globin molecules stop this happening by wrapping the

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