Question

Who discovered the red blood corpuscles?
A. Georges Louis Buffon
B. Olof Rudbeck
C. Jan Swammerdam
D. Carolus Linnaeus

Answer 1

Blood is a connective tissue circulated in the body in vertebrates and is composed of the fluid matrix, plasma, and formed elements (RBCs, WBCs, and platelets). Red blood cells (RBCs) are also known as red blood corpuscles.

Complete answer:
Red blood corpuscles, commonly known as erythrocytes or red blood cells, are the most abundant cells in the blood. On average, a healthy adult human has 5 to 5.5 million RBC in 1-millimeter cube of blood. RBCs are produced in the red bone marrow. These cells lack a nucleus and are generally enucleated. They are biconcave in shape and are red in color due to the presence of an iron-containing complex protein known as hemoglobin. The red blood corpuscles were discovered by a Dutch biologist and microscopist, Jan Swammerdam in 1658.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Additional information:
-Jan Swammerdam was born on 12th February 1637. His father wanted him to study theology, but he chose the medicine and got admission in 1661 at the University of Leiden. He was one of the first people who used a microscope at that time. He was the first to observe and describe red blood corpuscles. He also worked on insects and demonstrated various phases of the life cycle of insects, i.e., egg, larva, pupa, and adult. He also worked on muscle contraction.
-Georges Louis Buffon was a well-known French mathematician, naturalist, and cosmologist. He wrote “Histoire Naturelle” and published 36 volumes of it in his lifetime. He was the director at the Jardin du Roi.
-Olof Rudbeck was a scientist and writer born in Sweden. He was also a professor of medicine at Uppsala University. He mainly contributed to the fields of human anatomy and linguistics. He also studied botany and established the first botanical garden in Uppsala, Sweden.
-Carolus Linnaeus was a famous Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist. He gave the binomial nomenclature system which is a broad system of naming all the organisms present on the earth including plants and animals.

Note: The hemoglobin present in the RBCs play an important role in the transportation of respiratory gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide). The average life span of RBC is 120 days, and after that, they get destroyed in the spleen.