Red blood cell

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Red blood cells (erythrocytes) are the most common type of blood cell and is the body's principal means of delivering oxygen to body tissues via the blood.

The name "red blood cells", differentiates them from white blood cells, which are actually immune cells.

Erythrocytes deliver oxygen via hemoglobin, a complex molecule containing heme (iron) groups that temporary link to oxygen molecules in the lungs and release them throughout the body. The heme is what gives blood its red color. Some oxygen is also held in solution in the blood.

Erythrocytes are anucleate when mature (in other words, they lose their cell nucleus, and thus their DNA). They have a flattened ovate shape, depressed in the center.

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