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BIOL - How Red Blood Cell is Adapted for Its Job?

Biology, Transport and Gas Exchange in Human, Red Blood Cell, for DSE | IGCSE | IB | AP Biology

April 20, 2020

If I asked you what can't you live without you might say “Love” but I say blood!

Hear me out…😊

In the realm of biology, the red blood cells- a vital bunch were given the duty to transport oxygen for aerobic respiration.

They've got a whole lot of must-dos including

  • Absorb oxygen present in lungs
  • Pass through narrow blood vessels
  • Release oxygen to respiring cells

The red blood cells have adaptations that make them suitable for the job, such as :

- Their size is small and flexible which checks the list for fitting through narrow blood vessels 👏

- Their shape is biconcave ( otherwise known as flattened disk shape ) which helps them maximize their surface area for oxygen absorption.

- it's a known fact that the nucleus and haemoglobin don't go hand in hand. This is why the absence of nucleus suggests a lot of haemoglobin.

*HAEMOGLOBIN IS A RED PROTEIN THAT COMBINES WITH OXYGEN* & is abundant in red blood cells

Efficient diffusion of oxygen:

Red blood cells having very thin cell membranes is the ultimate advantage for oxygen to diffuse quickly. Since the size of cells is so incredibly small, they require only a little amount of time for the oxygen to diffuse. As mentioned above, the biconcave shape provides a large surface area to volume of the red blood cell allowing diffusion to happen efficiently!

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