Iron.
Chat with our AI personalities
Iron is the essential element needed for the development of red blood cells. It is a key component of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that binds to oxygen and transports it throughout the body. Without enough iron, the body cannot produce an adequate amount of healthy red blood cells.
Red Blood Cell
The only true cell among the formed elements of blood is the white blood cell (leukocyte). Red blood cells (erythrocytes) and platelets (thrombocytes) are not considered true cells because they lack a nucleus and other organelles.
Thrombocytes are the smallest formed elements in the blood. In my Medical Terminology book, it says "The smallet formed elements found in blood are platelets. Although they are sometimes called thrombocytes, they are not true cells, as the term erroneously suggests, but merely fragments of cells."
The most primitive blood cell is called a hematopoietic stem cell. These cells have the ability to develop into various types of blood cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Immature cell types released into the blood circulation are called "blast cells." These are undifferentiated cells that have the potential to develop into various types of mature blood cells, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets. The presence of blast cells in the blood may indicate abnormal cell development, as seen in conditions like leukemia.