Phagocytosis

Phagocytosis, process by which certain living cells called phagocytes ingest or engulf other cells or particles. The phagocyte may be a free-living one-celled organism, such as an amoeba, or one of the body cells, such as a white blood cell. In higher animals phagocytosis is chiefly a defensive reaction against infection and invasion of the body by foreign substances (antigens).

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