Experiment on the Functions of Passive Transport in Red Blood Cells

Introduction Because of the composition of the cells, the plasma membrane must be selective for the material it passes through. In other words, the plasma membrane is semipermeable, which makes it possible for nutrients to enter the cell but to retain unnecessary substances. This property allows the cells to isolate their internal cytoplasm from the external environment. There are two ways to pass through this membrane: active transport and passive transport. Both active transport and passive transport are biological processes that transfer oxygen, water and nutrients to cells and remove waste products, but these two processes occur with different mechanisms.

Transporting substances through the cell membrane is an important function of cell survival. There are three different modes of transport in which substances can pass through cell membranes: active transport, passive transport and facilitated or carrier mediated transport. In our laboratory experiments we investigated the active transport of amino acid leucine to E. coli and the passive transport of water molecules to onion cells. In the first experiment we attempted to confirm the hypothesis that the active transport of leucine in E. coli occurs only when glucose is supplied to the cells, since glucose can produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP supplies the energy required for active transport. Leucine is a radioactive amino acid. Radioactive substances made biochemical analysis less complicated and improved the ability of biological research to follow intracellular biochemical reactions.

Red blood cells or red blood cells which mainly transport oxygen and collect carbon dioxide using hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an iron-containing protein that develops red blood cells, promotes oxygen transport from the lungs to tissues, and carbon dioxide is transported from the tissues to the lungs due to exhalation. Red blood cells are disc shaped and deformable to allow them to compress through thin capillaries. Red blood cells are much smaller than most other human cells. In a process called erythropoiesis, erythrocytes in erythrocytes are formed by hematopoietic stem cells. About 2.4 million erythrocytes are produced per second in adults. The life span of erythrocytes is about 100 to 120 days. After the life is over, they are removed from the bloodstream by the spleen