Myoglobin: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos and Videos

Diagram tracing the evolutionary history of globin genes from a single ancestral globin gene, with branching lines and dots marking gene duplication events over millions of years, leading to myoglobin and various hemoglobin genes on chromosomes 16 and 11.

Diagram comparing two phylogenetic trees based on molecular changes: one tree shows evolutionary relationships among four species using myoglobin changes, and the other compares humans, rhesus monkeys, and horses using cytochrome c changes, with arrows and numbers indicating the amount of molecular change between branches.

The chemistry behind the perfect summertime grill session

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

oxymyoglobin deoxymyoglobin metmyoglobin glycoprotein colony-stimulating factor hemagglutinin prothrombin Intrinsic factor Nucleoprotein

Key People

Max Ferdinand Perutz (left) and John Cowdery Kendrew, 1962.

Sir John Cowdery Kendrew

British biochemist