Transporting Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide

About the lecture

In the second mini-lecture, we learn how oxygen and carbon dioxide are transported in the blood. We learn about the protein vital for this transport, known as haemoglobin. As an allosteric protein, it has various adaptations that allow it to maintain a high affinity for oxygen and carbon dioxide in areas where they are abundant. We display the effect of these adaptations by looking at oxy-haemoglobin dissociation curves, and explain why the sigmoidal relationship of oxygen partial pressure with haemoglobin saturation is beneficial. We then move onto the blood buffer system, and the reasons how and why blood is maintained at a specific pH.

About the lecturer

Dr Helen Wallace is a senior lecturer in Women's and Children's Health at the University of Liverpool. Her primaryprimary interests focus on all aspects of physiology education, from A level students, undergraduates and postgraduates, to healthcare professionals. She has contributed to many physiology text books, and in addition to this she is the Programme Director of MRes in Clinical Studies, the Physiology Course Lead for the MBChB programme, the Respiratory System Science Lead for the MBChB programme, and Education Lead for the Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences.