EBIO 1220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Osmoregulation, Light Therapy, Jaundice
27 Feb 2017
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Some organisms just breathe through diffusion or their outer membrane. Terrestrial insects have an open circulatory system (not involved in gas exchange) Found on things like insects with open circulatory systems. Branching tracheal system goes to each individual cell. This means of oxygen transport is one of the major limitations on insect size (diffusion time - distance squared) Lungs are highly vascularized with high sa and low diffusion distance. Sa of human lungs is about 100m squared and that"s so you can maximize. Sa to bring oxygen in and get it through your bloodstream. Clicker question how does your body know how fast to breathe: your brain monitors carbon dioxide concentrations in your blood. Your brain is not paying attention to oxygen. Medulla monitors co2 levels using changes in ph. Co2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid. Lowering co2 in your lungs so that when you take a deep breath and dive underwater, you can hold your breath longer.
