Blood is a body fluid in human and other animals that delivers necessary
substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic
waste products away from those same cells. It is composed of blood cells
suspended in blood plasma, which constitutes 55% of blood fluid, is mostly
water (92% by volume), and contain dissipated protein, glucose, mineral ions,
hormones, carbon dioxide (plasma being the main medium for excretory product
transportation), and blood cells themselves. Albumin is the main protein in
plasma, and it functions to regulate the colloidal osmotic pressure of blood.
The blood cells are mainly red blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes),
white blood cells (also called WBCs or leukocytes) and platelets (also called
thrombocytes). The most abundant cells in vertebrate blood are red blood cells.
These contain hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein, which facilitates oxygen
transport by reversibly increasing its solubility in blood (Albert, 2010).
substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic
waste products away from those same cells. It is composed of blood cells
suspended in blood plasma, which constitutes 55% of blood fluid, is mostly
water (92% by volume), and contain dissipated protein, glucose, mineral ions,
hormones, carbon dioxide (plasma being the main medium for excretory product
transportation), and blood cells themselves. Albumin is the main protein in
plasma, and it functions to regulate the colloidal osmotic pressure of blood.
The blood cells are mainly red blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes),
white blood cells (also called WBCs or leukocytes) and platelets (also called
thrombocytes). The most abundant cells in vertebrate blood are red blood cells.
These contain hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein, which facilitates oxygen
transport by reversibly increasing its solubility in blood (Albert, 2010).