The article titled, “Blood Does a Body Good,” from sciencenewsforkids.com states the benefits of blood. Even though scientists have a foundation of how blood in the human body works, there are still unsolved mysteries. Blood consists of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Oxygen is delivered to tissue and organs by red blood cells. White blood cells fight diseases. Platelets promote blood clots which can either be helpful or dangerous. Platelets can prevent blood from excessively coming out of cuts and scrapes, but can cause heart attacks and strokes. “Blood cells reside in bone marrow, a squishy tissue inside bones” (Webb 3). Over the course of a few months, Gregor Adams, a researcher at the` Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and other scientists are attempting to take a closer look at how blood works without disturbing the bone marrow above. This article gives an understanding of how blood in the human body works every second of everyday.
The information in the article, impacts me personally because I know a couple of people with blood disorders. My aunt, Geeta, has anemia (a deficiency in red blood cells). Anemia can leave someone extremely tired and exhausted because red blood cells are not delivering oxygen throughout the body efficiently. Another example would include my mother’s colleague, Broderick, who has been suffering from leukemia. “In diseases like leukemia, a type of cancer, the bone marrow produces abnormal cells” (Webb 4). Since blood cells reside in the bone marrow, doctors do bone marrow transplants to replace it. In the future, I may call my aunt and tell her about this article to inform her about her condition. Therefore, the article affects me because I will eat healthier and exercise to prevent myself from inheriting anemia or leukemia. The reason this article was written is to inform the public about the benefits of blood. Gregor Adams and other scientists are trying to get a better view of how cells operate without disrupting the bone marrow that lies above. They are trying to figure out how stem cells decide what to morph into. Stem cells possess the ability to transform into any other blood cell, so how do the stem cells know which blood cells to turn into? Scientists are finding out that chemical signals from surrounding bone cells tell stem cells what type of cell to morph into. “In diseases like leukemia the bone marrow produces abnormal blood cells” (Webb 4). Do stem cells cure leukemia patients? Doctors treat leukemia patients by getting rid of the faulty blood cells and replacing it with stem cells. Stem cells are very unique blood cells and there are still many mysteries about it. This article amazed me because it never crossed my mind that the blood system is so complex. Also, every part of blood such as the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets have their own unique job. Prior to reading this article I knew blood was important but I did not realize how important it was. One fact I did not know is that one drop of blood contained millions of red blood cells that causes blood to become red. Lastly, I would not have known that the body replaces blood cells within a few days or months. There are definitely many facts about blood that are fascinating and amazing. The content of this article