• Question: What is the haemoglobin in your blood made from?

    Asked by aced490emu on 18 Jul 2023.
    • Photo: Clare Morrow

      Clare Morrow answered on 18 Jul 2023:

      Haemoglobin is made up of proteins mainly. There are 4 haem molecules with iron in each red blood cell.
      Did you know that there are different variations of haemoglobin – such as Haemoglobin S.
      We measure Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) to diagnose and monitor diabetes.

    • Photo: Bruno Silvester Lopes

      Bruno Silvester Lopes answered on 18 Jul 2023:

      Haemoglobin (Haem=blood, globin=protein) is made up of iron and RBCs (red blood cells)

    • Photo: Hannah Scholes

      Hannah Scholes answered on 19 Jul 2023:

      Haemoglobin is mainly made up of proteins called globin chains, and 4 haem groups (an iron molecule surrounded by something called porphyrin that gives your blood its red colour!).

      There are different types of globin chain which form different types of haemoglobin depending on how old you are (adults usually have HbA – A for Adult, and babies have HbF – F for foetal/baby), or if you’ve got a different variation like Haemoglobin S in people with sickle cell disease.

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