Cells are the smallest of living matter. They were discovered by Robert Hooke (1635-1703) who was a curious individual that wore many hats. As he was looking through a microscope at a piece of cork wood, he saw what reminded him of cells – little rooms. In his writings he called these separated little spaces cells, and the name has been used since.
Two Germans, Theodor Schwann and Matthias Schleiden, and others, carried on the study of cells. Out of their work came the theory of cells which consists of three facts: * all organisms consists of one or more cells, The cell is the basic unit of structure for all organisms, and all cells arise from preexisting cells. From these suppositions all kind of facts and information has been learned about cells, including the fairly recent discovery of how DNA works and how it relates to inherited diseases.
The makeup of the cell is likewise made up of three parts, the outer plasma shell, the cytoplasm and the nucleus. The outer layer is comparable to the human skin, although it is fluid and is not dry and brittle. Yet the skin itself if a form of a cell, one of a numerous others of different shapes that carry on the work of a living biological organism. It consists of a double layer of a plasma like covering that reseals itself when punctured.
The next interior layer is cytoplasm. In this layer of water, chemicals, nutrients, waste materials, transporting across cells is carried out. This is done especially by alcohol and oxygen. In other words, although a cell is a small complete structure in itself, it also communicates with other cells. One way is by a process called osmosis, and another is by way by axons, or actually nerve cells that carry messages.
The center of the cell, the nucleus, is where the real action of the cell takes place. This is where the DNA and the reproductive actions of cells take place. Healing begins here. Tissue – masses of cells – that have been injured by illness, an accident, or whatever, in order to recover, must begin the process of renewal. This cell renewal is at the heart of healing.
The shape of cells vary. They are shaped according to the job they are assigned to do. Their function likewise varies, and the nucleus carries the information that is the blueprint for the building of the cellular structure. This is carried out by the cellular interaction with proteins, the building blocks of all cells.
Cells die and are regenerated according to need and to the age of the organism. This activity is undertaken in the nucleus and is characteristic of all cells. In order for cells to multiply and renew themselves, they must have a nucleus. Mature red blood cells do not have a nucleus and therefore live only for a month or two and die. They are renewed by being manufactured in the bone marrow. There, immature red blood cells are produced and are transported to where they are needed to replace those that have died.
Imagine the whole body as being made up of a multitude of individual cells that in actuality, are maintained by the body in much the same way the person maintains themselves. They breathe in oxygen, take in food for fuel, have a means of discarding waste, and a means of renewing themselves, and you have a pretty accurate picture of the smallest bits of life.
On the other hand, see each human on earth as an individual cell making up the universe, as well as creating much of its problems, causing disharmony among the rest of the inhabitants, and you see why each tiny cell is so very important. To destroy any of it is to do away with parts of self and makes healing slower and more problematic.
