Abstract

The human red blood corpuscle (RBC) represents a highly differentiated structure adapted to serve in combining with, transporting, and releasing oxygen and carbon dioxide under appropriate conditions which involve the partial pressure of these gases in different regions of the body. The RBC is formed principally in the bone marrow and the stem cells have large numbers of polyribosomes for synthesizing hemoglobin, a complex protein-containing iron, which is its eventual major constituent. When fully formed, the RBC no longer has a nucleus or those organelles typical of other cells. In human males there are approximately 5.5 million RBC’s per cubic millimeter of blood, and each has a life span in the circulating blood of about four months. (The appearance of RBC’s in normal blood smears stained with the Giesma method is illustrated in Fig. 1. From such images, it is difficult to determine that the natural shape of the RBC in mammals is a biconcave disc. This shape, however, is clearly demonstrated in the SEM (Figs. 2 and 3).

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