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How oxygen gets inside you

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Corvettaholic:
I understand how lungs basically work, but what I don't get is how you get oxygen atoms into the blood stream. Figure this sounds biological enough for this particular forum  :) What does oxygen bond to in the bloodstream, and how does it get through those little tiny air sacs in the lungs?

jdurg:
Remember, the air sacs in the lungs are ENORMOUS compared to an oxygen molecule.  O2 has no problem moving through the cell walls in the lungs.  Once in the blood stream, it bonds to the heme-ring of the molecule hemoglobin which is a part of every single red blood cell in your body.  From there it is transported around your body.

Corvettaholic:
What exactly is the heme-ring? I mean, what atom does the oxygen bond to?

jdurg:
I think the following link will answer all your questions a bit better than I can.   ;D

http://www.isat.jmu.edu/users/klevicca/isat454/hemoglobin_essay.htm

Corvettaholic:
Hey good stuff! I think scientists have developed hemoglobin on their own? Pretty sure synthetic blood exists, and is going through clinical trials in a couple hospitals. Works pretty well from what I've read. Now how does differing blood types work? Cause I'm A pos, and how does that make me different from someone who is AB neg? Something to do with the 2 globin chains?

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