My Beloved Cells

I always thought of myself as one entity and wondered why am I alive. Well, that was too arrogant of me.

Inside a human body, roughly 37.2 trillion cells are working hard every day.

Red blood cells carry oxygen from our lungs to the rest of our bodies and then they take carbon dioxide back to our lungs to be exhaled. White blood cells fight bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections. Then, we have our little cute platelets that are contributed to hemostasis and help to form clots.

Back then, it was too careless of me to peel my scabs. They were little platelets’ hard work. I am sorry.

Normal cells multiply through cell division. The oxygen and nutrients are usually delivered to them. Cancer cells are normal cells born mutated due to the copying error in their DNA. They multiply uncontrollably and spread to vital organs, endangering the life of the organism.

The cancer cell’s story is kind of sad. It was born a mistake, unwanted, and then killed because its existence is harmful. Whose fault is it anyway?

Naive T cells respond to novel pathogens that the immune system has not yet encountered which are then activated by mature dendritic cells. Killer T cells recognize and kill virus-infected cells because of the viral antigen on their surfaces, thus aborting the infection because a virus will not grow within a dead cell. Natural killer cells patrol around the body and kill infected cells on sight.

Macrophages are specialized cells involved in the detection, eating, and destruction of bacteria and other harmful organisms. Helper T cells not only help B cells to secrete antibodies and macrophages to destroy ingested microbes, but they also help activate Killer T cells to kill infected target cells. Regulatory T cells control the activity of T cells to prevent them from triggering anomalous immune responses.

Eosinophils are a rare type of white blood cell. They defend the body from parasitic invaders, rather than bacterial ones. We also have a mysterious one. Basophils are the rarest type of white blood cell, making up to less than 1% of the white blood cell population. Memory cells remember the immune responses used against antigens and help prepare white blood cells in case the same antigens invade again.

Cells have their own functions and they perform their jobs well. They work hard every day. Thanks to them, I am healthy and alive. And I am not one entity. I am 37. 2 trillion of cells.

Thank you very much, my beloved cells and I love you. I will take care of you guys.

I wanted to write this article after watching cells at work and here I am.

Sep 7, 2020