Biology Class Fascinations

So, this post is going to just be me nerd-ing out over some facts I learned in the past few weeks in my classes: thou hath been warned.

I'm currently taking a "Human Biology" course that is simply ripe with fantastic information. When I get especially drawn in by unbelievably cool information, I have a tendency to smile and chuckle relative to the amount that I think about the information; needless to expound, I am smiling a lot. So, what could be tickling my fancy? Probably nothing you, the reader, will find all that interesting, but to me it is ridiculously impactful.

For example, I've learned a few things about cellular processes. Literally all cellular processes are astounding, but I was especially taken with infectious disease. My professor worked for the CDC so his level of knowledge on the subject is evident, to say the least. Anyway, apparently when a pathogen enters a cell - which is already extremely difficult, as each cell has a security "code" that is dependent on something called "Haemagglutinin", and if the pathogen does not contain said code, it can not enter the cell. Let us assume that the pathogen did enter the cell, well the cell immediately begins starving the pathogen, pumps it full of free radicals (which, if you're unfamiliar, those are detrimental to you - you can imagine a concentrated dose isn't the greatest for a small pathogen), and finally, the cell unleashes Lysosomes upon the pathogen, which create an acidic environment for the pathogen to squirm in. However, you'd assume that something would just leave if it were immediately bombarded with all these horrors. Well, it can't. Basically, once it is in the cell, the cell "locks the door" by requiring a different password to leave that is dependent on "Neuraminidase". If the pathogen doesn't have that "password", it is locked in to its fate. After the cell has finished eating the pathogen, it stores its information so that future break ins are dealt with even greater ferocity and effectiveness.

While you're eating a burger, sleeping, watching Netflix, etc, your body is basically waging mass genocide on 99.99% of the pathogens that find themselves into your system. In a way, you have to feel sorry for those bacteria, viruses, and whatever else might step foot. Meanwhile, as your body is killing countless viruses and bacteria, it is doing a plethora of other activities to keep you running optimally. It feels so unjust to put the body under undo stress when it is literally saving your life every moment of your existence.

To put it in perspective, by the shortest terms possible, if you did not have an immune system as you do, scraping your knee would kill you (this happened to a person who did not realize their immune system was completely gone).

Ok, done for now. SCIENCE.

Listening to: Parkway Drive, "Picture Perfect, Pathetic"