Blood cells are mainly red blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes), white blood cells (also called WBCs or leukocytes) and platelets (also called thrombocytes). The most abundant cells in vertebrate blood are red blood cells. These contain hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein, which facilitates oxygen transport by reversibly binding to this respiratory gas and greatly increasing its solubility in blood. In contrast, carbon dioxide is mostly transported extracellularly as bicarbonate ion transported in plasma. Vertebrate blood is bright red when its hemoglobin is oxygenated and dark red when it is deoxygenated. Some animals, such as crustaceans and mollusks, use hemocyanin to
Blood cell in the human body in that they lack a nucleus (although erythroblasts do have a nucleus). The condition of having too few red blood cells is known as anemia, while having too many is polycythemia. White blood cells or "leukocytes", are cells of the immune system involved in defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign materials. They are produced and derived from multipotent cells in the bone marrow known as a hematopoietic stem cells. Leukocytes are found throughout the body, including the blood and lymphatic system. There are a variety of types of white bloods cells that serve