Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes

by Nathan H. Lents

The most commonly known role of iron is in the functioning of hemoglobin, the protein that transports oxygen throughout our bodies. Red blood cells are absolutely packed with this protein, each molecule of which needs four iron atoms. In fact, the iron atoms in hemoglobin are what give it its characteristic red color (which means your blood and the surface of Mars have more in common than you might think). Iron is also vital for other crucial functions, including the harvesting of energy from food. Despite the fact that there is plenty of iron in our bodies, our environment, our earth, and our solar system, deficiencies in iron are among the most common diet-related ailments in humans. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (known as the CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), iron deficiency is the single most common nutritional deficiency in the United States and worldwide. That iron deficiency is pandemic in a world filled with iron is paradoxical, to say the least.