Scientists at the University of Bonn have discovered a new rare type of haemo-globin. Haemoglobin transports oxygen in the red blood corpuscles. When bound to oxygen it changes colour. The new haemoglobin type appears optically to be transporting little oxygen.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder caused by a genetic mutation that leads to the generation of a mutant form of the beta-globin chain of hemoglobin (Hb).

For patients with dialysis-related anemia, the risk of death is increased when hemoglobin levels remain persistently low over a period several months—not necessarily when they fluctuate over time, according to a study in the January Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Researchers at the BSC and the IRB Barcelona unveil crucial information about the protein transporter of oxygen, which opens up the possibility to optimize its function by introducing modifications. The study is published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A team of researchers from Wake Forest University, the National Institutes of Health and other institutions has discovered a previously undetected chemical process within the oxygen-carrying molecule hemoglobin that could have far-reaching implications for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

The Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) from the University of Navarra and the Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics BV (AMT) have demonstrated the pre-clinical effectiveness of a treatment against acute intermittent porphyria. Once the pre-clinical, toxicological and clinical phases are completed, it may be possible to eliminate this disease permanently.