Protein That Allows Safe Recycling Of Iron From Old Red Blood Cells May Lead To New Treatments For Iron Deficiency And Parasitic Worm Infections

Humans survive by constantly recycling iron, a metal that is an essential component of red blood cells, but which is toxic outside of those cells. More than 90 percent of the iron in an adult human's 25 trillion life-sustaining red blood cells is recycled from worn-out cells. Almost 50 years ago scientists first began hypothesizing that our bodies must have a special protein 'container' to safely transport heme -- the form of iron found in living things -- during the breakdown and recycling of old red blood cells and other types of heme metabolism... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..