Whenever I see this image I always wonder 2 things:
What makes hemoglobin more efficient?
Why do we even need these fancy molecules to transport oxygen? Can’t we produce some kind of biological ampule that holds some pure O2 for consumption by the various processes that need it? We have dedicated organelle structures for similar tasks (i.e. mitochondria)
It’s sensitive to pH, so it absorbs oxygen more readily in the lungs, and releases it slightly more near tissues that need it, as they have co2 which slightly acidifies the blood in solution (h2co3).
It’s effective and well tuned for our biology, it doesn’t bond strongly, and is well suited for the air-blood interface, unlike others that often favor water-blood or water-the fluid worms use instead.
Whenever I see this image I always wonder 2 things:
It’s sensitive to pH, so it absorbs oxygen more readily in the lungs, and releases it slightly more near tissues that need it, as they have co2 which slightly acidifies the blood in solution (h2co3).
It’s effective and well tuned for our biology, it doesn’t bond strongly, and is well suited for the air-blood interface, unlike others that often favor water-blood or water-the fluid worms use instead.
CO2 and H2CO3 (apparently I don’t know how to do subscript on here.
Thank you. Clear, easily understood explanations of questions I always wondered. 👍🏼