Which organ near the stomach produces, stores, and eliminates blood cells?

• A. Liver
• B. Pancreas
• C. Spleen
• D. Gallbladder

Answer: (C)

The spleen handles blood cells in three important ways: it helps produce them during development, it stores a reserve of blood components, and it filters out old or damaged blood cells. Located just beneath the diaphragm on the left side, near the stomach, it sits in a prime spot to monitor and manage blood as it circulates. In adults, most blood cell production occurs in bone marrow, but the spleen remains a key immune organ and can contribute to blood cell production during development and under certain conditions. It also acts as a blood reservoir for platelets and white blood cells and removes aged red blood cells from circulation, recycling their components. The other nearby organs—liver, pancreas, and gallbladder—have different primary roles such as metabolism and bile production/storage, not the combined blood-cell functions described here.