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SadandFurious t1_irbrt3v wrote

Reply to comment by AMightyOak43 in What happens when a bruise heals? by DwagonFyre

take a look at the chemical structure of chlorophyll vs heme and it’s an even better analogy

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Seicair t1_irc8kcs wrote

Pyrrolidines everywhere!

For those who want a visual reference, here are example types of two sub regions of chlorophyll and hemoglobin that show the similarities.

Chlorophyll

Hemoglobin

Plants use magnesium and mammals use iron. Other animals use copper and have blue blood.

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whtthfff t1_ird8xsr wrote

Wow, never knew this. Do we know why mammals use iron? Like is it somehow better for what mammals do, or is/was there just a lot of it available?

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Seicair t1_irddgod wrote

I don’t know the evolutionary reasons behind it. All vertebrates with the exception of one Antarctic icefish use hemoglobin or heme to transport oxygen, but a lot of invertebrates use hemocyanin (copper based, blue blood), and there are multiple different iron containing compounds that are in use among invertebrates.

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