Red blood cell are cells present in blood in order to transport oxygen. The only known vertebrates without red blood cells are the crocodile icefish (family Channichthyidae); they live in very oxygen-rich cold water and transport oxygen freely dissolved in their blood. While they no longer use hemoglobin, remnants of hemoglobin genes can be found in their genome. Vertebrate red blood cells consist mainly of hemoglobin, a complex metalloprotein containing heme groups whose iron atoms temporarily bind to oxygen molecules (O) in the lungs or gills and release them throughout the body. Oxygen can easily diffuse through the red blood cell's cell membrane.
Red blood cell among the bilayer is the result of the function of several energy-dependent and energy-independent phospholipid transport proteins. Proteins called “Flippases” move phospholipids from the outer to the inner monolayer, while others called “floppases” do the opposite operation, against a concentration gradient in an energy dependent manner. Additionally, there are also “scramblase” proteins that move phospholipids in both directions at the same time, down their concentration gradients in an energy independent manner. There is still considerable debate ongoing regarding the identity of these membrane maintenance proteins in the red cell membrane. The maintenance of an asymmetric phospholipid distribution in the bilayer