Plural of heme; multiple iron-containing molecules that bind oxygen in hemoglobin and similar proteins.
Simple plural of heme, from hemoglobin. Each hemoglobin molecule contains four heme groups, so scientists needed a plural form to discuss them.
A single red blood cell contains about 280 million hemoglobin molecules, and each has four hemes—that's over a billion iron-containing oxygen carriers in one tiny cell, explaining why iron deficiency causes fatigue.
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