• Question: What are red blood cells? Where are they in the human body?

    Asked by JuliaJ to Tom, Paul, Natasha, Ildiko, Ester, Eoin on 14 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Eoin McKinney

      Eoin McKinney answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      red blood cells are basically the bodys way of carrying oxygen around. They are cells, but have lost their nucleus so don’t contain any DNA anymore. They have developed very specialised ways of binding oxygen, using a protein called haemoglobin combined with iron. Not enough red blood cells can make you tired as your blood can’t carry enough oxygen to the tissues to keep them working. This is called ‘anaemia’.

    • Photo: Natasha Myhill

      Natasha Myhill answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      Red blood cells are small round cells that travel around the body through the blood vessel system. Their job, as Eoin says, is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body to deliver it to the cells. All cells need oxygen to function, so red blood cells are really important in making sure all the parts of our body are receiving it.

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