North Sea: North Sea, shallow, northeastern arm of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the British Isles and the mainland of northwestern Europe and covering an area of 220,000 square miles (570,000 square km).
Your immune system ignores the surface antigens on your own RBCs. However, your plasma contains antibodies, sometimes called agglutinins , that will attack the antigens on foreign RBCs. When these antibodies attack, the foreign cells agglutinate , or clump together; the process is called agglutination . The plasma of a Type A, Type B, or Type O individual always contains either antiâ A or antiâB antibodies, or both, even if the person has never been exposed to RBCs that carry foreign surface antigens. If you have Type A blood, your plasma contains antiâB antibodies, which will attack Type B surface antigens.
Antibodies, also called immunoglobulins, are large Y-shaped proteins which function to identify and help remove foreign antigens or targets such as viruses and bacteria. Every different antibody recognizes a specific foreign antigen. This is because the two tips of its âYâ are specific to each antigen, allowing different antibodies to bind to different foreign antigens. Antibodies are produced by the immune system in response to the presence of an antigen. Antigens are large molecules, usually proteins, on the surface of cells, viruses, fungi, bacteria, and some non-living substances such as toxins, chemicals, and foreign particles. Any substance capable of triggering an immune response is called an antigen.