AS REPORTEDno primary record reached; this is what the reporting says
Reference literature and expert sources explicitly refute the claim, noting that mature mammalian erythrocytes are not classified as prokaryotic cells because they belong to eukaryotic organisms and develop from eukaryotic precursors.
relative size. BACTERIA Structure of prokaryotic cells Prokaryotic cells are much smaller, about the size … present in every cell of the body (except mature erythrocytes, which have no nucleus) but, because not … plants and animals and the more primitive prokaryotic cells of bacteria. The term eucaryotic comes from
# Are mature erythrocytes prokaryotic?
Tags: cell-biology, taxonomy, red-blood-cell
- Score: 6
- Views: 18083
- Answers: 3
- Answered: yes
- Asked by: Gerard (371 rep)
- Asked: 2013-09-13
- Edited: 2016-06-28
- Site: biology
## Question
Mature mammalian erythrocytes have all the characteristics of a eukaryotic cell except that they don't have a nucleus, they don't have any cell organelles. Does this mean that erythrocytes are classified as prokaryotic?
## Answers
### Answer by Amory (score: 16 [ACCEPTED])
No. Nobody considers red blood cells to be prokaryotic, perhaps most importantly because they are part of a eukaryotic organism. Red blood cells begin life with the full complement of organelles, including a nucleus and mitochondria, but our RBCs shed their organelles during maturation. In actuality, though, only mammalian RBCs lack nuclei; other animals' RBCs still hold on to their traditional eukaryotic characteristics.
As an analogy, apoptotic or necrotic cells don't have intact organelles, but they are still considered eukaryotic.
### Answer by David (score: 3)
How this intellectual deception works
There have been several admirable comprehensive answers to this ques
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This check searched the claim as stated. It did not run a separate search for evidence against it.