Overview of the QU program. Take a virtual tour of your body! Learn about your mind! Play this exciting game and learn about good nutrition! Take a trip on a ship and enter the virtual QU research lab! Learn about what your blood is made of.

RESEARCH LAB
You have entered the Research Lab, please select a lab area to begin data analysis. Blood samples have been prepared for each area. The holoscope lab allows analysis of blood parts. The separation lab simulates a centrifuge lab.

HEMATOLOGY INFORMATION:
Hematology is a branch of medicine that is concerned with the study of your blood for the purposes of diagnosing blood diseases or disorders, prescribing treatment, and to monitor the progress of that treatment. When you have a blood sample taken at the doctor’s office, the sample may be examined for many things. Commonly, a hematologist will conduct a blood cell count where she or he examines a part of your sample under a microscope. The sample is examined to count the number of red blood cells in a given volume, to review the types of cells found in the sample, and to observe the size and shape of the blood cells. Some diseases cause changes in the shape of your blood cells. Additional tests may include running a hematocrit, testing iron levels, and other chemical analyses of the sample. Bone marrow is sometimes examined since this is the site of blood development. A marrow sample is usually taken from the sternum (breastbone) as a biopsy of tissue.

SEPARATION LAB (HEMATOCRIT ANALYSIS):
Let’s examine a blood sample to see what a hematologist might see. After the sample is drawn from your body, it is stored in a labeled and sealed tube. This keeps it from becoming spoiled, mixed up with other samples, or contaminated with pathogens in the air. The hematologist can then pull the amount of blood they need to run each test from the tube using a syringe. A hematocrit spins a sample of blood in a centrifuge. This process separates the parts of the sample where the heavier red blood cells settle to the bottom of the tube, the plasma forms a layer at the top of the tube and a middle layer, called the “Buffy Coat”, contains the white blood cells, platelets, and other solids.

The hematocrit is a measure of the percent of your blood that is red blood cells. For example, a hematocrit of 25% means that there are 25 milliliters of red blood cells in 100 milliliters of blood. The normal ranges for hematocrit are dependent on age and, after adolescence, the gender of the individual. A low hematocrit is commonly referred to as anemia. Anemia can be the result of bleeding, nutritional deficiencies (lack of iron, folate, B12), or other blood diseases such as sickle cell anemia. A high hematocrit can be an indicator of dehydration, blood production disorders, or the use of certain performance enhancing drugs. The kinds of diseases and disorders that hematologists diagnose and treat include cancers of the blood and lymph system such as leukemia, Hodgkin’s Disease, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. Other conditions hematologists study are anemia and other iron-deficiency disorders, coagulation and bleeding diseases such as hemophilia, bone marrow disorders, platelet disorders affecting the immune system, and sickle cell anemia. Hematologists also examine blood for genetic testing purposes in an effort to identify hereditary disease.

HOLOSCOPE LAB:

BLOOD:
Your blood consists of living cells, called the formed elements, suspended in a non-living liquid matrix known as plasma. Formed elements include red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Your blood makes up about 8% of your total body weight. A typical healthy adult male will have about 5 to 6 liters of blood. The blood volume in healthy adult females is slightly less, about 4 to 5 liters. Bone marrow creates about an ounce of new blood each day in adults. All blood cells begin life as a stem cell called a hemocytoblast. As the cell matures, it develops characteristics of a particular type of blood cell. At a certain point in maturation, blood cells leave the bone marrow by passing through capillary walls in the bone marrow into the blood system. Your blood serves a number of important functions in your body. These functions can be categorized under the headings of distribution, regulation, and protection.

PLASMA:
Your plasma, the liquid part of your blood in which living blood cells are suspended, is a thick, straw-colored fluid made up of 90% water. The remaining 10% is composed of dissolved solids and gases (solutes), such as respiratory gases, nutrients, salts, hormones, and proteins. The most numerous of these solutes are proteins. Most plasma proteins are produced in the liver and include albumin, globulins, and clotting proteins. Albumin makes up about 60% of the proteins and acts as a carrier of certain molecules through your circulatory system and plays a part in pressurizing water at the correct level in the plasma. Another type of plasma protein, fibrogen, aids in blood clotting. The globulins produced in the liver also aid in blood clotting. Other globulins, known as antibodies or immunoglobulins, are secreted by special cells, not the liver, and play a role in protecting against bacteria and disease. Even though there are general percentages of the usual components of plasma, these proportions change constantly as your body’s cells add or remove substances from the blood. Plasma also helps to distribute heat throughout your body.

WHITE BLOOD CELLS:
Your white blood cells, or leukocytes, play a major part in defending your body against disease and bacteria. There are two main categories of leukocytes, granulocytes and agranulocytes. The red bone marrow plays a part in production of white blood cells, as well as the spleen, the thymus, the lymph nodes, the tonsils, and the Peyer’s patches in the intestinal mucosa.

PLATLETS:
Your platelets, known as thrombocytes, are not really cells, but are fragments of very large cells called megakarocytes that are produced in the red bone marrow, like other blood cells. They are commonly called platelets because they resemble round dinner plates. Thrombocytes have a specialized function of forming blood clots—coagulation. When a blood vessel is damaged, platelets attach themselves to the walls, partially plugging the hole, and release platelet factor III, which sets the clotting process in motion by transforming fibrogen into fibrin. These are strands that weave platelets together to form a clot. Platelets also release seratonin that constricts the blood vessel to slow the blood flow through it. The life span of a thrombocyte is about 10 days. Platelets are always present in your blood, but aren’t activated until you have a damaged vessel and they are needed.

RED BLOOD CELLS:
The primary function of your red blood cells is to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide between the cells in your body and your lungs. Oxygen binds to the hemoglobin protein in the blood cells. Iron plays an important role in the binding. Carbon dioxide also can bind to hemoglobin, although most of it floats freely in the plasma. When a red blood cell is created in your bone marrow, it has a nucleus and organelles and synthesizes hemoglobin. The production of hemoglobin requires iron, vitamin B-12, and folic acid. After a red blood cell matures it ejects its nucleus and organelles and changes to the biconcave shape with a flattened center. At this point, it is most made up of hemoglobin and enzymes. This shape allows it flexibility to squeeze through tiny capillaries, which have a diameter that is smaller than a red blood cell, and then spring back to its ordinary size and normal shape. Red blood cells have a life span between 100-140 days. Damaged or old red blood cells are removed from the circulatory system by liver and spleen macrophages. Red blood cell production continues throughout your life, as these cells must be constantly replenished.

RESEARCH LAB
You have entered the Research Lab, please select a lab area to begin data analysis. Blood samples have been prepared for each area. The holoscope lab allows analysis of blood parts. The separation lab simulates a centrifuge lab.

HEMATOLOGY INFORMATION:
Hematology is a branch of medicine that is concerned with the study of your blood for the purposes of diagnosing blood diseases or disorders, prescribing treatment, and to monitor the progress of that treatment. When you have a blood sample taken at the doctor’s office, the sample may be examined for many things. Commonly, a hematologist will conduct a blood cell count where she or he examines a part of your sample under a microscope. The sample is examined to count the number of red blood cells in a given volume, to review the types of cells found in the sample, and to observe the size and shape of the blood cells. Some diseases cause changes in the shape of your blood cells. Additional tests may include running a hematocrit, testing iron levels, and other chemical analyses of the sample. Bone marrow is sometimes examined since this is the site of blood development. A marrow sample is usually taken from the sternum (breastbone) as a biopsy of tissue.

SEPARATION LAB (HEMATOCRIT ANALYSIS):
Let’s examine a blood sample to see what a hematologist might see. After the sample is drawn from your body, it is stored in a labeled and sealed tube. This keeps it from becoming spoiled, mixed up with other samples, or contaminated with pathogens in the air. The hematologist can then pull the amount of blood they need to run each test from the tube using a syringe. A hematocrit spins a sample of blood in a centrifuge. This process separates the parts of the sample where the heavier red blood cells settle to the bottom of the tube, the plasma forms a layer at the top of the tube and a middle layer, called the “Buffy Coat”, contains the white blood cells, platelets, and other solids.

The hematocrit is a measure of the percent of your blood that is red blood cells. For example, a hematocrit of 25% means that there are 25 milliliters of red blood cells in 100 milliliters of blood. The normal ranges for hematocrit are dependent on age and, after adolescence, the gender of the individual. A low hematocrit is commonly referred to as anemia. Anemia can be the result of bleeding, nutritional deficiencies (lack of iron, folate, B12), or other blood diseases such as sickle cell anemia. A high hematocrit can be an indicator of dehydration, blood production disorders, or the use of certain performance enhancing drugs. The kinds of diseases and disorders that hematologists diagnose and treat include cancers of the blood and lymph system such as leukemia, Hodgkin’s Disease, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. Other conditions hematologists study are anemia and other iron-deficiency disorders, coagulation and bleeding diseases such as hemophilia, bone marrow disorders, platelet disorders affecting the immune system, and sickle cell anemia. Hematologists also examine blood for genetic testing purposes in an effort to identify hereditary disease.

HOLOSCOPE LAB:

BLOOD:
Your blood consists of living cells, called the formed elements, suspended in a non-living liquid matrix known as plasma. Formed elements include red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Your blood makes up about 8% of your total body weight. A typical healthy adult male will have about 5 to 6 liters of blood. The blood volume in healthy adult females is slightly less, about 4 to 5 liters. Bone marrow creates about an ounce of new blood each day in adults. All blood cells begin life as a stem cell called a hemocytoblast. As the cell matures, it develops characteristics of a particular type of blood cell. At a certain point in maturation, blood cells leave the bone marrow by passing through capillary walls in the bone marrow into the blood system. Your blood serves a number of important functions in your body. These functions can be categorized under the headings of distribution, regulation, and protection.

PLASMA:
Your plasma, the liquid part of your blood in which living blood cells are suspended, is a thick, straw-colored fluid made up of 90% water. The remaining 10% is composed of dissolved solids and gases (solutes), such as respiratory gases, nutrients, salts, hormones, and proteins. The most numerous of these solutes are proteins. Most plasma proteins are produced in the liver and include albumin, globulins, and clotting proteins. Albumin makes up about 60% of the proteins and acts as a carrier of certain molecules through your circulatory system and plays a part in pressurizing water at the correct level in the plasma. Another type of plasma protein, fibrogen, aids in blood clotting. The globulins produced in the liver also aid in blood clotting. Other globulins, known as antibodies or immunoglobulins, are secreted by special cells, not the liver, and play a role in protecting against bacteria and disease. Even though there are general percentages of the usual components of plasma, these proportions change constantly as your body’s cells add or remove substances from the blood. Plasma also helps to distribute heat throughout your body.

WHITE BLOOD CELLS:
Your white blood cells, or leukocytes, play a major part in defending your body against disease and bacteria. There are two main categories of leukocytes, granulocytes and agranulocytes. The red bone marrow plays a part in production of white blood cells, as well as the spleen, the thymus, the lymph nodes, the tonsils, and the Peyer’s patches in the intestinal mucosa.

PLATLETS:
Your platelets, known as thrombocytes, are not really cells, but are fragments of very large cells called megakarocytes that are produced in the red bone marrow, like other blood cells. They are commonly called platelets because they resemble round dinner plates. Thrombocytes have a specialized function of forming blood clots—coagulation. When a blood vessel is damaged, platelets attach themselves to the walls, partially plugging the hole, and release platelet factor III, which sets the clotting process in motion by transforming fibrogen into fibrin. These are strands that weave platelets together to form a clot. Platelets also release seratonin that constricts the blood vessel to slow the blood flow through it. The life span of a thrombocyte is about 10 days. Platelets are always present in your blood, but aren’t activated until you have a damaged vessel and they are needed.

RED BLOOD CELLS:
The primary function of your red blood cells is to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide between the cells in your body and your lungs. Oxygen binds to the hemoglobin protein in the blood cells. Iron plays an important role in the binding. Carbon dioxide also can bind to hemoglobin, although most of it floats freely in the plasma. When a red blood cell is created in your bone marrow, it has a nucleus and organelles and synthesizes hemoglobin. The production of hemoglobin requires iron, vitamin B-12, and folic acid. After a red blood cell matures it ejects its nucleus and organelles and changes to the biconcave shape with a flattened center. At this point, it is most made up of hemoglobin and enzymes. This shape allows it flexibility to squeeze through tiny capillaries, which have a diameter that is smaller than a red blood cell, and then spring back to its ordinary size and normal shape. Red blood cells have a life span between 100-140 days. Damaged or old red blood cells are removed from the circulatory system by liver and spleen macrophages. Red blood cell production continues throughout your life, as these cells must be constantly replenished.