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Definition of "hemocyanin" [hemocyanin]

  • A bluish, copper-containing protein with an oxygen-carrying function similar to that of hemoglobin, present in the blood of certain mollusks and arthropods. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "hemocyanin" in a sentence
  • "In us, the oxygen is carried to the tissues, and the carbon dioxide carried away by an iron compound, hemoglobin, but in many animals of Earth, the same function is performed by a copper compound, hemocyanin, which is an intense blue."
  • "Squids also use hemocyanin instead of hemoglobin - thus the protein that carries oxygen in their blood is copper-based, like Spock's on Star Trek."
  • "The main toxic action of NO3 – on aquatic animals, particularly on fish and crayfish, seems to be the conversion of oxygen-carrying pigments (hemoglobin, hemocyanin) to forms that are incapable of carrying oxygen (methemoglobin, methemocyanin)."