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Article: Hemoglobin molecule's secret revealed. (how hemoglobin carries oxygen and disposes of carbon dioxide)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- March 23, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Intrigued by a paradox, Duke University researchers recently revisited one of life's deepest mysteries: how red blood cells carry oxygen to tissues and cart off carbon dioxide waste.
Now, the scientists report in the March 21 Nature, they have solved both the paradox-how blood vessels dilate even though red blood cells are filled with a potent vasoconstrictor, hemoglobin-and the larger mystery.
They have discovered an elusive component of hemoglobin's dynamic respiratory cycle that enables the substance not only to exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide but also to control blood pressure.
The component is what a member of the Duke team, biochemist Joseph ...