Blood – The Most Complicated Fluid You Own

Blood looks simple - a red liquid that appears whenever you're cut - but it's actually one of the most sophisticated tissues in the human body, carrying oxygen, fighting infection, repairing wounds and ferrying chemical messages between organs, all at once. This episode pulls a single drop apart to explore what it's really made of and why it matters. You'll come away understanding what red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma each actually do, how bone marrow manufactures new blood cells around the clock, why blood types exist and why transfusion compatibility can be a matter of life and death, what causes anaemia, and what a routine blood test is really measuring. Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au Further reading: Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, Better Health Channel (Victorian Government), Nature, Scientific American