Having red blood is not peculiar to humans or mammals. It was thought that for haemoglobin to have appeared in such diverse species, it must have been ‘invented’ several times during evolution. But recent research has shown that all of these haemoglobins born ‘independently’ actually derive from a single ancestral gene. Studying these worms by comparing them with other species with red blood has helped in tracing back to the origins of haemoglobins. This work shows that in all species with red blood, it is the same gene that makes a globin called ‘cytoglobin’ that independently evolved to become a haemoglobin-encoding gene.

Source: Hindustan Times December 30, 2020 17:15 UTC