January 3, 2003

From Debris to Defender

BY LILA GUTERMAN

Once considered a toxin, the molecule bilirubin turns out to protect humans

To doctors, bilirubin has always been a villain. When it accumulates in the

ALSO SEE:

A Cycle of Protection

blood, a person's skin and eyes turn yellow with jaundice. Worse problems crop up when too much of it reaches an infant's brain.

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