"Bartosz Milewski"  wrote in message
>
> I had no idea hemoglobin was so old. Is there, by any chance, a
> similar paper on the history of the chlorophyll gene?
>
Hemoglobin is protein, actually four units, plus four heme groups. An
arrangement of four nitrogens in the heme group holds the iron ion that
gives hemoglobin its power to bind oxygen.
Chlorophyll is not a protein. It is a molecule that is similar to heme in
that it has four nitrogens, in this case holding a magnesium ion.

Since these molecules are not coded for directly by DNA, they can't undergo
molecular evolution as the term is generally understood. However the form of
the molecules may have changed over evolutionary time as the enzymes which
synthesise these molecules changed.
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info{at}bbsworld.com

---
 * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS
 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 2/5/04 11:00:22 AM