Probably more than you think. What’s in BLOOD? Probably more than you think.

We have a little over 5 liters (6 quarts) of blood coursing through our entire body - non-stop. In many parts of our body it is under high pressure. BLOOD = mostly??????

WATER The liquid portion of blood is called PLASMA It makes up 55% of the volume of blood 92% of Plasma = water The remaining amount = dissolved substances

Dissolved Substances Nutrients, such as glucose and amino acids Waste products Hormones = chemical messengers Dissolved ions, (dissociated from salts) Including sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium

Dissolved Substances (still) Proteins Antibodies Clotting factors (fibrin) Albumins & Globulins – Transport assist molecules

Formed Elements Erythrocytes Leukocytes Thrombocytes Red blood cells White blood cells Thrombocytes platelets

RBC’s Carry respiratory gasses – O2 & CO2 Account for 99% of all blood cells 1/3 of all cells in the human body = RBC Each adult has between 60 and 75 trillion

RBC’s (continued) Disc-like (donut like) shape Enucleate Packed with the oxygen carrying molecule hemoglobin which contains a good deal of Iron Contain the surface proteins that determine blood type

WBC’s Roughly one WBC for every 700 RBC Larger than RBC Fight off disease and foreign invaders Many different types performing a variety of different roles in the immune response

WBC’s (continued) Produce antibodies (which is forensically important because they are the other half of the blood typing issue) The part of blood – DNA source for DNA profiling First case of DNA evidence used in forensics in 1982 came from white blood cells

PLATELETS Platelets + proteins (termed clotting factors) = leak control Not really cells, but cell fragments Smaller and much less numerous than RBCs