This assignment explain the composition of blood. It includes carrying out a practical using real blood which will help in better understanding of what is found in blood.
Unit 20: Learning Aim A
Biomedical Science
Context~
In this assignment, I will be going to explain the composition of the blood. This will include
carrying out a practical in which real blood will be used in order to understand what is found
in the blood. After the practical, I will explain the each one of the components of the blood.
And the diseases which influence the blood. There also will be a report on diagnostic blood
test which will detect the disease to help cope with the disease.
Composition of Blood:
Erythrocytosis: (Red blood cell)
Figure 1
Erythrocytes are red blood cells which has a very thin cell membrane. This enables the short
diffusion pathways for oxygen to enter the cell. Figure 1 shows that the cell doesn’t have
any organelles such as nucleus and mitochondria. This means the cell have lots of space to
carry as much as haemoglobin possible. The red blood cell also has a biconcave disc shape
that can be seen in the figure above. This shape of the cell allows it to have a large surface
area. Therefore, more oxygen can be absorbed. The red blood cell is also very flexible. This
means that the cell can squeeze through the narrow capillaries and carry out its function
which mainly is to carry oxygen throughout the whole body.
Leukocytes: (White blood cell)
Leukocytes are also known as white blood cell. White blood cells are one of the main
components of the immune system. There are many types of leukocytes such as
neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils. Unlike Erythrocytes,
Leukocytes have organelles such as nucleus and cytoplasm. Leukocytes also have cell wall
instead of cell membrane. White blood cells are divided into two different groups depending
on whether they have granules or not in their cytoplasm. Granulocytes are neutrophils,
, eosinophils, and basophils. Agranulocytes are lymphocytes, and monocytes. There are many
function leukocytes have. For example, Leukocytes protect the body by fighting against
infections. Leukocytes are involved in allergic reaction and kill the parasites. Overall, the
leukocytes are involved in body’s immune system, fighting off the infections, regulates
immune responses and keep up health.
Types of leukocytes:
Neutrophils:
Neutrophil is a type of white blood cell. Unlike other cells neutrophil has a multi-lubed
nucleus which allows the nucleus to change its shape. Therefore, it can squeeze through
narrow spaces without being damaged. Neutrophil contains lysosomes that works as a
digestive system to digest or kill any obstacles within the cell. Granules are found in the
cytoplasm of neutrophil. Granules have a big effect on the cell as it contains different
enzymes that kills bacteria and fight any infections. The body’s immune system depends
greatly on neutrophils, as they react quickly and effectively to different pathogens,
especially bacterial infections. Neutrophil also influence the immune defence and
inflammation. Neutrophil are known for phagocytosis, as they engulf and digest unfamiliar
particles.
T lymphocytes:
T lymphocytes are a type of white blood cells. T cells are produced in the bone marrow, and
they are matured in the thymus. They contain a large round shape nucleus. T cells also have
receptors known as T cell receptors as shown in the figure. The function of these receptors
is to recognise the specific antigens produced by other cells. The antigen receptors help the
cell to detect cancerous cells or any other pathogens. T cells then release cytokines which
are also known as messenger chemicals which alert other white blood cells. Toxins are
released by cytotoxic t cells which kills and destroy any pathogens and cancerous cells.
Certain t cells convert into memory t cells. Therefore, if they encounter the same pathogen
again, the cell will remember the pathogens and react more quickly.
B lymphocytes:
B lymphocytes are produced and matured in the bone marrow. B cell receptors are similar
to antibodies, which are found on the surface of B cells. Every B cell receptor belongs to an
individual antigen. The function of B cell is to produce antibodies for specific pathogens.
Antibodies do not kill or destroy the pathogens like cytotoxic. But antigens cause the
pathogens to slump together. Due to slumping together, T cells can detect the pathogens
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