Heme is a nearly ubiquitous biomolecule that is involved in a wide range of important processes that include binding, transport, and activation of oxygen (myoglobin, hemoglobin), deactivation of ...
Digesting the hemoglobin releases heme, an iron-containing molecular complex needed for binding oxygen. Freed from the surrounding protein, however, heme is so reactive that it can kill the parasite.
In our bodies, heme can be found tucked inside of a molecule in our blood called hemoglobin. Heme helps ferry oxygen throughout the body, carries iron, and colors our blood red. For most of us ...