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2.2 explain the adaptive advantage of haemoglobin
explain the adaptive advantage of haemoglobin
- Oxygen is not very soluble in water and so cannot be carried efficiently dissolved in the blood plasma. Most of the oxygen is carried by haemoglobin in the red blood cells. Thus, the presence of haemoglobin in red blood cells in blood increases the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen. Organisms with blood (containing haemoglobin) are able to deliver oxygen to cells more efficiently than other organisms with blood that has no haemoglobin. The net effect is that these organisms are more effective operators in a given environment than their competitors.
- At high altitudes, blood is not able to absorb as much oxygen as at sea level. The human body adapts to what is effectively oxygen deprivation by initially increasing heart rate, breathing rate, then the number of red blood cells (more haemoglobin), then density of capillaries.