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A hemoglobin-based blood substitute: transplanting a novel allosteric effect of crocodile Hb
1MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, U.K.
Biological Chemistry
|September 1, 1996
Abstract:
Recombinant DNA technology has enabled the large scale production of human hemoglobin in bacteria and yeast. This has opened up a way to produce a hemoglobin-based blood substitute which could replace conventional blood transfusion in some situations. Using our understanding of the structure-function relationships and evolutionary history of hemoglobin it has been possible to improve the oxygen transport properties of the molecule and solve a number of problems associated with the use of natural hemoglobin as a cell-free blood substitute.