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There are lots of mysteries in life that we find yourself shrugging off. Why is urine yellow? It simply is, proper? Relatively than flush that 125-year-old query down the bathroom, scientists sought out the reply, discovering a beforehand unknown microbial enzyme was guilty.
The enzyme that has eluded us for therefore lengthy is now referred to as bilirubin reductase. It was recognized by researcher and assistant professor Brantley Corridor of the College of Maryland, who was a part of a staff based mostly on the college and the Nationwide Institutes of Well being.
Bilirubin is an orange pigment launched by pink blood cells after they die. Intestine microbes then use bilirubin reductase to interrupt down bilirubin into colorless urobilinogen, which degrades into yellowish urobilin, giving urine that notorious hue. Whereas urobilin beforehand had an affiliation with the colour of urine, the enzyme that begins the method by producing urobilinogen was unknown till now.
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