Posted by My STEAM project for this semester focuses on red blood cells (RBCs) and hemoglobin, more specifically how the most common type of anemia affects RBCs. The RBC (displayed as PlayDoh) contains hemoglobin (displayed as ribbons). Each ribbon color represents the four globular protein subunits that make up a hemoglobin molecule. Within each subunit is one heme molecule containing iron (displayed as a red googly eye). The bottom of the illustration shows the amount of RBCs in a healthy individual compared to fewer amounts of RBCs in a person who is anemic.
This project shows a depiction of each structure in an RBC. The crater in the RBC shows that it is meant to be filled with Oxygen, and the ribbons are very accurate in how they effectively show the look of proteins in how they are shaped in a certain way but not truly random like they may look sometimes. It also shows the shape of the molecules as they relate to each other and how that orientation affects how they are arranged.