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red blood cell
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Red blood cells Illustration of a capillary cross section showing red blood cells moving from an artery to a vein. Arrows indicate oxygen and nutrients leaving the blood to enter body cells, while carbon dioxide and wastes enter the blood from body cells.
Observe a red blood cell as it travels from the heart to the lungs and other body tissues
Close-up of a medical blood bag filled with red blood, showing attached tubes and connectors against a blurred background.
Watch red blood cells travel through arteries and capillaries to deliver oxygen
iron-deficiency anemia Plasmodium vivax Fibrin in blood clotting blood smear showing sickle cell anemia sickle cell anemia
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blood. Close-up of a technician drawing human blood with syringe from blood bag at a blood bank. Blood donation, Healthcare and medicine, needle
Exploring the Human Body Quiz
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Red blood cells
Red blood cells Human red blood cells (erythrocytes).

red blood cell

biology
Also known as: erythrocyte, red corpuscle
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red blood cell, component of blood, millions of which in the circulation of vertebrates give the blood its characteristic color and carry oxygen from the lungs to tissues throughout the body. Red blood cells also participate in transporting carbon dioxide from tissues back toward the lungs. Their distinctive red color comes from hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein that binds oxygen. Red blood cells are the most abundant type of cell in human blood. The mature human...

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