Most of you will know of the copper-based blood of Vulcans. This is a relatively common oxygen carrier amongst certain forms of life on Earth. However, none of these life forms is humanoid! Obviously, were we to interact with copper-blooded aliens, we would face some cultural difficulties. For example, would copper aliens require prawns (and other copper-blooded food) in much greater quantities than we require, since they need more copper than iron? And, assuming that they have the same mechanism as copper-blooded organisms on Earth, would they be able to cope with the large amounts of iron in our food? I suppose that it is likely that they would have some iron-based proteins, considering how common iron is in the universe.
Also, would their blood be green? If they were the same as organisms on Earth, I suspect it would be reminiscent of 'ichor' (that is, Greek god blood) because it could be clear when (de)oxygenated (can't remember which) and purple otherwise, or it could be purple and blue as in other organisms.
Would it be possible for humans to develop into copper-blooded organisms? I would suggest that it would require a lot of transgenic stuff, and I don't know how an embryo would be grown (since iron-blooded mothers would be incompatible with copper-based children). Would this have a beneficial effect on our metabolism?
And, the favourite of the Original Star Trek Series: Spock. Could copper-blooded and iron-blooded humanoids actually mate successfully?
Josh Harbort
The real question is obviously this...
ReplyDeletewas Spock sterile? If no, then humans obviously have copper-based blood :)
I wonder... do we actually have that much iron in our bodies, or are we just very good at absorbing what is there? Copper is probably much more bio-available because it is relatively happy to sit in solution.