JMS/sandbox15: Difference between revisions
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'''Elephants''' can hold their breath for 2 minutes, but whales can hold their breath for 90 minutes - and they do, migrating underwater around the world. To find out how, a group of researchers contacted museums and zoos around the world<ref name="whaleMyo"> DOI:10.1126/science.1234192</ref>. | '''Elephants''' can hold their breath for 2 minutes, but whales can hold their breath for 90 minutes - and they do, migrating underwater around the world. To find out how, a group of researchers contacted museums and zoos around the world<ref name="whaleMyo"> DOI:10.1126/science.1234192</ref>. | ||
'''They hypothesized that a vital element of whales''' and other aquatic animals' ability to hold their breath for so long is storage of more oxygen in their muscles by increasing the concentration of | '''They hypothesized that a vital element of whales''' and other aquatic animals' ability to hold their breath for so long is storage of more oxygen in their muscles by increasing the concentration of myoglobin, the protein that stores oxygen in muscle tissue. | ||
Specifically, they predicted that species could increase the concentration of myoglobin by increasing its solubility through increasing the number of positively charged regions on the protein's surface, so that even at high concentration the electrostatic repulsion between the myoglobin proteins would prevent their aggregation. | Specifically, they predicted that species could increase the concentration of myoglobin by increasing its solubility through increasing the number of positively charged regions on the protein's surface, so that even at high concentration the electrostatic repulsion between the myoglobin proteins would prevent their aggregation. | ||
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=References:= | =References:= | ||
<references /> | |||
