BIOA11H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter Additional Reading: Red Blood Cell, Hemoglobin, Capillary
23 Aug 2019
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Relatively clear, yellow tinted water (95% water) Transport oxygen from the lungs to all of the living tissues of the body and carry away carbon dioxide. There are about 280 million hemoglobin molecules in each red blood cell. In one minute we make 120 million of them. (produced in the bone marrow) Mature red blood cells have no nucleus, enabling these cells to have more space for transportation. Biconcave shape gives cells flexibility to move through narrow capillaries. Most produced in bone marrow from the same kind of stem cells that produce red blood cells. Others are produced in the thymus gland, which is at the base of the neck. The immune system: must defend the body against foreign bodies. Leukocytes (white blood cells) specialize for different functions: Secrete digestive enzymes for multicellular invasive organisms. Kill own body cells that have been infected. Cell fragments (no nuclei) that work with blood clotting chemicals at the site of wounds.
