Your White Blood Cells at Work
By Billie Rubin, Hemoglobin's Catabolic Cousin, reporting from the labs of Stanford Blood Center
Many of us are familiar with the role of red blood cells (RBCs) in taking oxygen throughout the body via the hemoglobin molecules they have inside, and of our platelets' ability to help prevent bleeding through creating clots. But white blood cells (WBCs), our immune system warriors, are a little more mysterious. They make up a complicated system of T-killer cells, T helper cells, antigen-presenting cells, antibody-producing cells, plus others. When a unit of un-coagulated whole blood is spun down to separate components, the white blood cells appear, creating a thin, white layer between the plasma and RBCs.