In 1966, Dr. Peyton Rous of The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries on viral origins of some cancers. In an experiment, he collected cancerous connective tissue from a hen. He then filtered the tissue to remove bacteria as well as cancer cells and administered the purified filtrate to healthy chickens. The chickens that received the filtered substance began to […]
The lifespan of a red blood cell (RBC) in a healthy human is about 120 days and approximately 200 billion red blood cells (RBCs) are replaced every day in healthy adult humans! Most (80%) of the carbon monoxide produced in humans comes from the breakdown of heme which is released when these red blood cells (RBC) are broken down through normal homeostatic processes. Sickle cell anemia shortens the lifespan of […]
Moving to high altitude requires a bit of an adjustment. One of the ways our bodies adjust to the low levels of oxygen is by making more red blood cells, which are responsible for transporting oxygen in the body. More red blood cells means that our blood can pick up more oxygen. If this process continues unchecked, however, it can lead to chronic mountain sickness, also known as Monge’s Disease. […]
Mammalian red blood cells do not have a nucleus, which is different from birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish (see image above). Many textbooks report that the absence of a nucleus provides room for more hemoglobin within the cells, which is important to fuel the relatively high metabolic rates of mammals. Hemoglobin is an important oxygen-binding molecule that allows the red blood cells to transport oxygen to tissues throughout the body […]
We are delighted to speak with Anna Pearson (MS student) and her mentor Dr. Michael Tift, Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina – Wilmington. Anna presented her research “First report of red blood cell lifespan in a marine mammal: An insight into endogenous carbon monoxide (CO) production” at the 2021 Experimental Biology conference last month. What made you interested in studying red blood cells in dolphins?Dr. Tift became interested […]
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 