Concept
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Created by Boundless
Transport of Oxygen in the Blood
Hemoglobin
The protein inside red blood cells (a) that carries oxygen to cells and carbon dioxide to the lungs is hemoglobin (b). Hemoglobin is made up of four symmetrical subunits and four heme groups. Iron associated with the heme binds oxygen. It is the iron in hemoglobin that gives blood its red color.
Source
Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet. This particular resource used the following sources:
"OpenStax College, Transport of Gases in Human Bodily Fluids. October 17, 2013."
http://cnx.org/content/m44799/latest/Figure_39_04_01.jpg
OpenStax CNX
CC BY 3.0.