00Luneri · the evidence engine
Read the
machine
Behind many numbers on a blood panel is a single molecule doing its job. Here are four, rendered from their real atomic structures, with what the Luneri evidence engine knows about each.
58 markers · 12 structures · 28 supplements and practices so far
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01A1c · the three-month number
Sugar
leaves a
mark
Glucose sticks to hemoglobin at a rate that tracks your blood sugar, and it stays for the life of the red cell. Your A1c is the share that has been marked.
Four chains, four hemes. Hundreds of millions of these fill every red cell.
Look through it: the coral atoms are β-chain valine 1, where the glucose that A1c counts attaches.
This is the site the A1c test counts. It changes slowly, which is why A1c averages months, not mornings.
4,556 atoms · 7.5 nm longest span
02Fasting insulin · the upstream signal
Stored
in sixes
In the pancreas, insulin is stored as a six-part cluster held together by zinc. After release into the blood the cluster comes apart, and single insulin molecules act on your cells.
Six insulin molecules, packed for storage.
Two zinc ions sit on the central axis and hold the cluster together.
One molecule breaks free: the form that works in the blood. Fasting insulin shows how hard the pancreas is working to keep glucose steady.
2,414 atoms · 5.8 nm longest span
03Ferritin · the iron store
A hollow
shell
Ferritin is a hollow shell of 24 protein subunits that stores iron inside. The small amount that reaches your blood tracks how much iron you have stored. It also rises with inflammation.
Twenty-four subunits close into a sphere.
Cut it open: the cavity inside is where iron is stored.
One subunit, highlighted. Ferritin is a proxy measurement: storage and inflammation both move it.
33,456 atoms · 13.6 nm longest span
The shell is rendered empty: the crystal structure does not include the iron core.
04hs-CRP · the inflammation signal
Five
hands
C-reactive protein is a ring of five identical subunits. Each one carries a calcium-held pocket that binds phosphocholine on damaged cells. The liver makes more when inflammation rises.
A ring of five identical subunits.
Each carries two calcium ions and a bound phosphocholine.
That pocket is how CRP recognizes damaged cells. The high-sensitivity test reads low-grade inflammation.
8,225 atoms · 11.5 nm longest span
—Same scale
Four of 58.
One panel
Side by side at true relative size. A few nanometers each, and together they describe glucose control, iron and inflammation. The other 54 markers on the panel have pages of their own.
05Your turn · check a claim
Heard it
somewhere
Paste anything you have read about a supplement. Luneri checks it against the same studies behind this film and tells you whether the research supports it, contradicts it, or never looked.
- Fish oil lowers triglycerides
- Magnesium improves sleep
- Ashwagandha reduces stress
- Creatine hurts your kidneys
Three checks free, unlimited with a free account. Research summaries for education, not medical advice.
Structures:
Hemoglobin: PDB 4HHB, Fermi, Perutz, Shaanan & Fourme, J. Mol. Biol. 175:159 (1984).
Insulin: PDB 1MSO, Smith, Pangborn & Blessing, Acta Cryst. D 59:474 (2003).
Ferritin: PDB 2FFX, Wang, Li, Ellenburg & Soistman, Acta Cryst. D 62:800 (2006).
C-reactive protein: PDB 1B09, Thompson, Pepys & Wood, Structure 7:169 (1999).
PDB data are CC0 (wwPDB). Atoms are drawn at van der Waals radii; waters and hydrogens are omitted. Insulin and ferritin are shown as their biological assemblies from the entries' BIOMT records. Sizes are measured from the coordinates.
Evidence counts: 28 supplements and practices researched so far, one row for each against each marker. “No result yet” means no study in the dossier reported it, shown as a gap rather than a weak grade. Summaries are generated from the studies by a model pipeline; spot-check the sources.