Fetal Hemoglobin and Adult Hemoglobin

How and why fetal hemoglobin is different from adult hemoglobin

Introduction

Hemoglobin (Hb) is the component of red blood cells. Hemoglobin is a protein that carries oxygen. It is composed of Haeme molecules that contain iron, surrounded by Globin (protein). Every Hb molecule comprised of globin chains (Sankaran & Orkin, 2013). During, fetal, adult, embryonic lives, different Hemoglobins are found in human beings. The type of globin chains differ from each other. With the exception of in the beginning couple of weeks of embryo formation, one globin chain pair is always alpha whereas the second pair is always ...