Chromosome 11 is home to the insulin and hemoglobin beta genes, and their respective proteins. Insulin, a hormone that mediates the cellular uptake of glucose, was the first protein to have its amino acid sequence deciphered chemically. Hemoglobin beta, which encodes a subunit of the oxygen-ferrying protein hemoglobin, was among the first genes to be assigned, or "mapped" to a specific location in the human genome.