What is the composition of blood?

Blood consists of 4 different elements: 

  1. 55% is PLASMA 
  2. other 45% are 3 different components: 
  • red blood cells
  • white blood cells
  • platelets 

The main components we will focus on today are: white blood cells. If you think about white blood cells, they themselves have lots of different types of cells present within them. Their function is basically to protect us against pathogens. They're part of the so-called immune system. The main players all work together in harmony to make sure we stay healthy and disease free! About 25 per cent of the white blood cells are lymphocytes (B and Tcells). These lymphocytes produce soluble proteins called antibodies. Antibodies basically help in the recognition of "outside material" that enter our body, namely pathogens. So antibodies will find an antigen (these are substances found on the surface of pathogens) and attach to it. Different antibodies will attach to different antigen, this way you have more specificity. Antibodies can surround the pathogen and basically cause it to die in various different ways, but mostly by tagging them to get killed by phagocytes (which make up the other 70% of the immune system) and macrophages (another type of cells part of the immune system). 

Answered by Alisha J. Biology tutor

2130 Views

See similar Biology GCSE tutors

Related Biology GCSE answers

All answers ▸

What is ventilation of the lungs and how does it occur?


Describe the process of aerobic respiration.


How does the kidney filter blood?


How can potable water be produced from salt water


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2024

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences