"Science moves with the spirit of an adventure characterized both by youthful arrogance and by the belief that truth, once found, would be simple as well as pretty." --James D. Watson
A friend posted this video, produced by Harvard grad students, on her facebook wall. It's a movie that I've seen at least ten times. And each time I see it I am amazed and awed by the complexity and beauty of life. Our bodies are incredible. I love science so much. I don't fully understand the whole process but I'll give you a little narrative.
The movie details the process of diapedesis, or the traversal of a white blood cell across the blood vessel wall into the tissue in response to infection. White blood cells roll across the blood vessel. When an infection or cellular injury happens cytokines are secreted which are sensed by the rolling cell. The cytokines cause changes within the cell. These changes result in gene transcription into mRNA, translation into protein, and shipment to the cell membrane where they are inserted. The inserted receptors cause the cell to slow down and slip through the junction between cells in the blood vessel allowing the white blood cell to get out and fight the bad guys. Science is beautiful!
1 comment:
That was cool...I like the DNAtube thing! very informative... just like Osmosis Jones :)
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