Cancer is a prevalent disease among humans and animals, affecting millions of lives across the globe. It can be caused in a variety of ways and can affect virtually every part of our bodies, ranging from skin cancer caused by prolonged exposure to the sun’s harmful UV rays to lung cancer that results from carcinogenic substances smokers inhale. However, plants do not die of cancer despite sometimes being exposed to the sun for over a thousand years – and they do not use any sunscreens!

Humans and animals who live to a certain age are very likely to get cancer one day. We see this situation mostly in our pets which have been specially bred and protected from predators and diseases. Cancer has become part of our lives and remains a top world health priority. The probability of prostate cancer is roughly 80% in 80-year-olds, 90% in 90-year-olds, and 100% in 100-year-olds. However, these statistics yet again do not apply to trees.

What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease caused by the uncontrolled growth of cells that have become abnormal in a part of the body. These abnormal cells are not foreign invaders that have entered our bodies from outside but are instead our own cells. However, in time, various factors such as radiation, viruses, and chemical substances that they are exposed to cause the accumulation of errors, or mutations, in the genetic codes of cells. Some of them then acquire very different characteristics and become alien to their own body.

With old age, errors arise in the genetic code in an increased rate when our cells divide by copying their own DNA. External factors, such as “free radicals” and various radiations that affect our DNA, play a role in these errors. For young people, when there are too many errors in a cell’s genome, a process called “apoptosis” takes place after which faulty cells die before they can multiply in a potentially cancerous manner and forming a tumor. However, sometimes these accumulated errors cause the cell’s growth process to become stuck in the “on” position, and the cell begins to grow and divide continuously. Cells that emerge with out-of-control divisions ignore the commands coming from the healthy cells of the body, continue to grow and reproduce according to the erroneous commands from the cell’s disrupted genome. This situation lasts until death.

What is a tumor?

Cell growths that result from defective genome proliferation will eventually form a mass called a tumor. Some cells grow very slowly and stop at a certain size after a while and do not spread anymore and are called benign tumors. Masses formed by fast-growing, defective (cancerous) cells are known as malignant tumors. Cells that detach from malignant tumors and grow rapidly can attach to another organ where they will begin to grow again when they enter the bloodstream. The process by which cancerous cells start from a tumor and spread all over the body to different organs is known as metastasis.

Why does this process not happen in plants?

One of the most destructive features of cancer when it enters metastasis is the mobility of malignant cells to varying degrees according to their type. Blood vessels, i.e. the transportation pathways of the circulatory system, act like a highway for cancer cells. As the blood vessels surround the entire body, a single cancerous cell can travel to and settle almost anywhere in the body, from the toes to the head.

Plant cells have a vital feature that is different from human and animal cells. In plants, cells do not change their locations because their cells are surrounded by a very rigid, strong, and impenetrable wall outside of normal plasma membranes. Cell walls are made of cellulose, which constitutes the main substance of plants, and form the wooden structures that ensure the plants stand upright and harden while at the same time locking each cell in place and preventing it from migrating within the organism.

Another important difference that is unique to plants is that they do not have blood circulation in which cells are carried; they have a circulatory system in which only water and food are carried. This system is often used to pump water from the roots to the leaves and to transport organic products such as sugar, which is a product of photosynthesis, from the leaves down. Therefore, there are no blood cells or immune system cells in these carrier channels, which are known as wood and roe tubes (xylem and phloem), in plants.

In addition, animal cells are specifically employed in tissues and organs such as muscle, bone, liver, and skin during embryonic development. Thus, when they divide only new cells of the same type are created. Tumors that occur in animal tissues can metastasize into different tissues and disrupt different organs. We can think of animal and human biology as a very complex system in which each cell, tissue, and organ has a task and purpose. In such a system, all elements work in cooperation for the continuation of life. This system is of a kind of irreducible complexity. A human being cannot live without organs like brain, heart, or lungs, while plants, on the other hand, have fewer simpler internal structures which are not as vital. When plant cells divide, they retain their ability to form new cells of any type. This is called totipotency.

In plants, every necessary structure can be recreated from the few tissues they have. For this reason, a gardener can grow new plants from the roots, branches, or leaf parts of a plant.

Plants are equipped with very powerful antioxidants to protect them from the sun’s harmful rays and mutations that may be caused by radiation. Therefore, tumors can develop only due to bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and insects. For example, in a situation that we can call “information confusion” that occurs when Agrobacterium Tumefaciens bacteria insert some of its DNA into the plant’s DNA, an anomaly occurs in the plant’s genome. Cells that go through a rapid growth process and form tumors are not normally classified as cancer, since they simply remain in that area and cannot be transported elsewhere. Since the tumors cannot spread to the whole plant, they may cause only minor distress at most in a specific area rather than a fatal disease such as cancer. Just as the plant continues to grow around a rock that it encounters, it grows around the tumor as well. The tumor can continue to grow for years, but does not spread to the rest of the plant, meaning there is no metastasis.

In summary, plants can also be cancerous, but a cancerous tumor is not a deadly threat to a plant, as its cells are immobile and do not have vital and complex organs like humans and animals. Thanks to the cellulose walls gifted to the them, plants continue their role in the ecosystem by continuing to grow with healthy cells around the tumor as if nothing had happened.

References

• Luis Villazon. “Can a plant die of cancer?” www.sciencefocus.com/nature/can-a-plant-die-of-cancer
• Sam Westreich. “Do Plants Get Cancer?” medium.com/@westwise/do-plants-get-cancer-60eb435c6d1a
• Stuart Thompson. “Plants couldn’t run away from Chernobyl—but that’s what saved them. Why plants don’t get cancer.” www.popsci.com/chernobyl-plants-radiation-cancer

It is estimated that there are approximately 100 trillion cells in the human body. They fulfill their duties harmoniously with all the systems, organs, and tissues manifesting innumerable signs of wonder and wisdom. If a disruption occurs to the working of cells or the coordination among cells, the process leading to cancer starts to develop in the body’s tissue.

The recent increase in cancer occurrences has led researchers to look into its development. The phrase “cellular anarchy” is sometimes used to refer to cancer’s development. Indeed, when we examine the mechanism of cancer development, we see that cells engage in irregular – anarchic – activities in addition to regular ones.

Abnormalities emerge in cancerous cells during cell division and differentiation (when they transform into specialized cells according to different tissues). Cancer cells divide uncontrollably. Under normal circumstances, numerous genes are active in cell division. In cancerous cells, however, failures occur in the mechanisms that control division. Moreover, due to differentiation flaws in cancerous cells, undifferentiated cells, which fail to acquire features that enable them to function in a tissue or organ, form groups of cells that constrain and damage other cells because of the space they occupy.

Checkpoints in cell division and tumor suppressing genes

How is cell division controlled in a normal cell?

Our cells go through numerous stages as they divide. The beginning of each stage is called a “checkpoint” because it is where errors in cell divisions are checked. At each checkpoint (called G1, S and G2) are proteins with certain duties. One of these proteins, P53, suppresses development of cancer. In other words, P53’s job is to prevent failures during cell division, hence blocking the path to cancer’s development in the cell. Whether there is a flaw in the DNA it is checked over and over again at each checkpoint. If no error is identified, the next stage proceeds. In this way, it is ensured that there is not any genetic error in the cells formed as a result of division. If there is an error, cell division is stopped. First an attempt is made to correct this genetic error. If it can be corrected, cell division is resumed. If the error is too big to be corrected, then the cell is scheduled to die; this is called apoptosis. It is worth remembering at this point that proteins that are too minute to be observed even by microscopes are tasked to perform these stupendous mechanisms. It is remarkable that they were designed to work so effectively.

Because these systems are disrupted during the development of cancer, genetically flawed cells form and multiply. Proteins produced with the genetic codes of the flawed cells are also flawed, and these flawed proteins cause a failure of the mechanisms that constrain cell division. Unconstrained cells have an abnormal capacity for division and they divide continuously, which is why cancerous cells have a greater ability to divide than normal cells.

Proto-oncogenes and oncogenes

It is essential that the parts of our body that grow, develop, or get damaged be repaired. In such cases, our cells synthesize certain “signal” molecules which are responsible for carrying to the nucleus the information that our cells should divide. As a result of the incoming information, some DNA regions called proto-oncogenes are stimulated and cell division gets underway. Proto-oncogenes are genes responsible for checking the start of cell division. When the human body encounters various cancer-making elements, damages occur in proto-oncogenes, which transform into oncogenes, or genes with the potential to cause cancer. Oncogenes lead a cell to develop cancer because cell division does not stop where it should and continues endlessly in the absence of healthy proto-oncogenes. Underlying abnormal tissue growth and spread to other organs is the fact that the control over cell division is lost.

Genetic treatment of cancer

It became apparent that age-old treatment methods proved wrong once it was discovered that the biological foundations of cancer stemmed from genetic disruptions. Despite its increase in the last century, cancer has in fact been seen throughout the history of mankind; even ancient Egyptian papyri talked about it. Because there was not a definite treatment for cancer, radical treatments were used, such as burning or cauterizing the tumor. In the first half of the twentieth century, only surgical methods were implemented in cancer treatments. Desired results could not be obtained by surgical procedures, which ended up with the excision of entire organs.

Research studies were launched in the second half of the twentieth century into whether it was possible to treat cancer using drugs. These studies revealed that cancer stemmed from genetic flaws (like the ones in oncogenes and tumor suppressing genes), which led to questions about types of treatment. Treatments of flaws at the genetic level are based on genes themselves. These treatments use such methods as stopping genes that work abnormally, eliminating the products of these genes, and killing cancer cells by making use of their genetic mechanisms.

New incidents of cancer are likely to continue to develop, for people are exposed to factors that cause disruptions of the makeup of genes. To prevent cancer, it is critically important that one should have a conscious, natural, and balanced lifestyle. People should be well-informed about the effects of smoking, genetically modified food, radiation, stress, and chemicals, so that they can lessen exposure to such risk factors. Moreover, more frequent implementation of screening tests will make early diagnosis easier. More effective methods with fewer adverse effects should also be developed for higher success rates in cancer treatment. Genetic treatment of cancer is a relatively new field but an increasing number of studies focus on it. These studies aim to kill only cancerous cells and spare healthy ones. It can be expected that research into this field will produce promising outcomes in coming years.

What are complex systems?

If there are multiple elements (variables/factors) interacting with each other in the creation of an event or a being, this structure is called a “Complex System.” For example, in the air system, air and water molecules are a factor. Plants and animals in an ecosystem can also be considered as a factor. These are interconnected to one another in a way hard to imagine and have impacts on each other. Systems with these specifications display complex situations throughout time. For example in the medical field, a disease is described multi-factorial if many factors (causes) take part in its development. However in the past, these laws, specifications, and progress-dependent patterns of the multifactor diseases had to be overlooked due to the lack of a suitable paradigm to study with. But today, with the complex system paradigm, we have a greater access to the inner dynamics of these multi-factor diseases.

Multi-factor systems in terms of structure and function exhibit complex features during the process. Thus, complicated features of a complex system have been found to be dependent on the “Force Law” when investigated with the complex system paradigm. They also establish the basis for principles and laws that are occurring coincidentally. According to the Force Law, in all complex systems, small scale changes occur in greater numbers, and larger scale changes happen less often. This state corresponds to the same direct line, when plotted on the x-y plane logarithmically with scale of changes versus chances of events being created. This indeed results in the stability of the system in the macroscale and yet reveals the variability and instability of the microscale. In other words, the state of the macrosystem is put forth momentarily by selection among many micro incidents, which, for believers, is an indication of an ultimate Divine will in possession of infinite power. The information level, energy and interaction strength of such events or beings plays a great role in the possible selection of micro incidents in the grand scheme of causes.

Complex systems that become visible via space-time river also enters a dynamic cycle which is composed of sub-critical, critical, and super critical states. In this way, events and existence become subjected to newer manifestations or degrees of glory, as for believers, life and existence are artworks of God and His Divine attributes in the visible universe, which resembles a drawing board. Living things display an adaptive and dynamic character along with being a complex system. Healthy processes in the human body display adaptive dynamic complex system properties yet exhibit complex behaviors that bring system down like cancer as well. The medical world in recent years have been referring to cancer more so than before because of undetermined factors in its development, hardships encountered during diagnosis and treatment; as cancer is a multi-factored disease, it is necessary to look at cancer with the complexity lens.

The science of complex systems which studies multidimensional and multifactor relations states that in each complex system there are common features, and that these features can also be observed in cancer just like in all other scientific fields and in all scales. The following will focus on the subject since cancer makes a good metaphor in understanding complex systems of behavior.

In complex systems, a whole system means more than the total value of its factors. This principle emphasizes that properties of events and beings that are the sum of many separate factors do not exist in separate units or tend to disappearas each part is handled more individually. The deduction-reduction examples of a peacock coming out of an egg, a tree growing from a seed, and water that consists of various elements are used as metaphors to explain matters that pertain to belief and bear complex system properties. There are many genetic, epigenetic, metabolic, internal and external factors in ontogeny of cancer, however it only develops with the interaction of these elements and differentiates from regular cells. According to widely accepted views, in order for a cell to become cancerous, it is not enough for it to undergo many genetic mutations on its own. The few mutations that take place in a specific order alongside other epigenetic factors could lead to a tumor and cause a “system death” which means much more than the total value of components. That is why death occurs systematically in humans-cell death, tissue death, organ death, system death (excretion and transport) and death of organism.

All complex systems not only have a specific perimeter but they also remain a part of this boundary. This feature brings attention to the fact that there is even a relation between the Sun and and eye of a mosquito. Cancer starts out with a single cell made up of specific inner parameters, in a particular placement within a tissue. It is not possible for a cancerous cell to proliferate for a long time and cause the death of an individual all by itself. It can cause death as a result of communication with surrounding cells, conversion of these into cancerous types, and dispersion through blood vessels into other organs.

Inhibition or the delay of these stages makes up the most significant strategic approaches of the therapy. Because of this, while a cancerous cell is programmed to change its surrounding it also begins utilizing the nutrient sources of surrounding live cells for itself, as if trying to resolve an optimization problem, and causes disruption in the system by displacing other cells with an uncontrolled proliferation potential. This incident points out that there is no such thing as a “minor” in complex systems.

In complex systems, the more diversity exists within a system, the more powerful the system becomes. This principle brings attention to maintenance contingency and sustainability of the system and the conditions that pertain to it, for the lifespan of complex systems correlates directly with the abundance and diversity encompassed in it. This viewpoint could be observed in the case of a normal cell turning malignant. A mature tumor is a group of differentiated cell types that can provide interaction with neighboring cells through intra- and inter-cellular structures (matrix). That is why one of the characteristics of cancer is progress-dependent heterogenity at a cellular level. Because of this reason, although there is only one cancerous cell at the beginning, it can divide into different populations in time. Each population can be considered as an independent (sub-population) population since each has a specific genetic composition. This diversity is one of the major sources of problems in cancer treatment.

A continued relationship of factors with each other in a complex system has critical importance regarding system survival. Metastasis of a tumor not only depends on relations with surrounding cells but at the same time relies on the stimulation of blood vessel synthesis factors (angiogenesis). Two events are required for the dispersal of cancer cells freely; the first is the reduced interaction with other cancer cells. This can be possible with regulation of cell-to-cell connection molecules (adhesion). Second is the formation of new blood vessels via stimulation to connect with the bloodstream from the vicinity of the tumor. Finally, cancer cells that have reached their target of joining the blood stream should be able to leave the circulation, penetrate the new tissue, and manage to grow again. Metastasis is a situation for cancer cells to regulate limiting factors according to their new conditions to survive.

Behaviors in complex systems which display more features (emergent situation) that are not present in the units or even in the total value of constituents are plentiful and complicated, yet principles as causes behind these rich motifs are simple and determine the function of the system. Cancer disease arises from the execution of three simple basic principles of interaction, proliferation, and dispersion in cancerous cells. Interaction, proliferation, and dispersion do result in a healthy cell if it happens properly in the correct place, time, and dosage; otherwise it results in a cancerous cell. These three principles can cause cancer as a complex system disease or a healthy life which also displays characters of a complex system. Critical factors that control the management of these principles are location, position, timing, and dosage.

In complex systems, minor scale changes in initial conditions can lead to major effects after a certain amount of time, like a small snowball getting bigger as it rolls. Metaphorically, this situation is called the “butterfly effect” which assumes the possibility of a hurricane in one part of the world resulting from a complex chain of events starting with the strokes of a butterfly in another far corner of the world. Most of the adaptive complex systems are called “self-organized systems” in the scientific jargon, however these may exhibit such behaviors that are hard to overlook and believers would attribute to Divine guidance rather than to their so-called self-organization capacity. These systems organized with Divine guidance reach a “critical state” at the end. One of the models that were developed to explain this critical state is called the “sand pile model.” The system is named sub-critical when sand particles start to pile up on a surface, since at this stage the system is not affected from the fall of the next sand particle. As sand particles pile up, they reach a critical state in which every new particle added to the pile can lead to one of the following: 1. Nothing will happen; this is called the super-critical state. Particle can stay on top or roll down to the bottom of the pile. 2. Particles that hit the top of the pile affect other particles and can cause a small avalanche. 3. Sand pieces hit the top and cause some displacement of other particles. These displaced particles successively can cause a bigger avalanche.

This bigger avalanche again restores the system back into a sub-critical level. All complex systems arrive at these stations of sub-critical, critical, super-critical and again sub-critical successively in the flow of time. At each station they are dressed with a form of existence corresponding to a different macroscopic situation. So the outcome of the next situation is contingent on the mean average of microstates and thus points to a manipulator, who wills it to be that way. As a result, a minor event can lead to a “point of no return,” a stage called catastrophe, a super-critical state. These stages result in the continuum of the universe as it transforms and renews itself. A cancer cell also stops by the above mentioned stations and step by step, like a snowball turning into an avalanche, it can impact the whole body after reaching the super-critical stage, and lead to death. That is why early diagnosis (made during sub-critical or critical level) increases the chances of treatment, yet late diagnosis (at super-critical level) decreases therapy outcomes.

There is no hierarchical chain of command or control of causes on each other in complex systems. In other words, not only is there not a single factor in control of the system, but also a great number of factors function in a nonlinear mode of interaction. The development and progression of cancer as a complex system is controlled through interaction of internal and external factors, genetic, epigenetic, physical and metaphysical, tangible and intangible elements. Initial conditions that prepare the basis for cancer progress does exist in human genome, for genes that play a role whether in development, suppression, or regulation of cancer are built in the human genomic library from the beginning. Embryonic development is maintained with proper activation of these regulatory genes in the correct time and place during pregnancy. However, same genes may initiate cancer if not properly expressed in the right time, place, and level after birth. Moreover, all the factors that the zygote is left exposed to during its interaction with the surroundings leave a mark (memory) on the system. This is called “system exposition.”

Exposition forms microstates that will lead to positive/negative development of the organism through interaction with genetic and epigenetic memory of the system. That is why programmed cell death is put in place to eliminate damaged and dysfunctional cells that form in the system.

Cancer, as a consequence of progress-dependent corresponding interaction of genome and system exposition, is a system that can display chaotic behavior. Because of this, spiritual factors as well as physical ones may cause a “butterfly effect” in development of cancer and there is no single center of command that is designed to control each of these in the causation chain. This being the case, one cannot help but wonder how causes can comply with the force law of all complex systems and that they share common features without a hierarchical command on each other.

Each complex system is composed of holographic sub-systems. The human body is an ecosystem of various systems placed within each other. The well-being of the ecosystem depends on proper interaction and health of these sub-systems. A tumor can be considered as a local ecosystem (sub-system) where various species and clones exist in a human ecosystem. While each tumor grows, there are living and dead clone populations in it. One billion elements exist in a tumor as small as 1 cm3 (1 gr). If we omit cell death, this corresponds to the 35th generation of an abnormal cell. Ten more generations later this reaches one trillion cells. This way, a population that started out with a single cell exceeds the total number of humans ever lived throughout history. So, human death with cancer starts with the disruption of one single cell. Once reached a super critical stage, system death occurs when the cancer branches out via blood circulation and disperses into various organs, leading to disconnection between them.

Cancerous cell reminds us that there are no minor events in the universe and points out that the health of our social and spiritual world takes shape according to the rules of complex systems. As a side thought, we may easily infer from cancer that underestimating any seemingly minor misbehavior or a sin and failure of immediate action to make up for it may lead to undesired consequences in our social and spiritual lives. It is also significant to be aware that we do not have an absolute control over our future and we cannot determine whether we will attain healing or not; however we can and we should try with science to elucidate some of the tangible causes of the disease and can point out some possible ways of treatment.

I, the protective system that you call the “immune system,” am divided into different groups and sections, each of which has its own area of expertise. Just like a military unit, each of my groups has to be partially or fully trained before it begins life in my system so that it can properly fulfill its defensive function. “Soldiers” in this protective troop work according to what expertise they have and the type of “enemy” (alien microorganisms) they encounter. Some are equipped with heavy weapons against tough enemies; some produce a special poison with which they kill their enemies by injecting it into their bodies, some work like a waste disposal, smashing up the dead bodies of the enemies, and some of them eat the alien intruders alive when they attack your body. Others produce raw material to arm your body, some turn that material into weapons, some work as defenders, some are signalers, some are rangers and some are equipped with a special intelligence which allows them to recognize the previous invaders and destroy them more easily at their future encounter. In this intelligence system, which works like an information center, the soldiers check the dangerous invaders and remember their previous experience with them. Then, they develop a strategy to fight against those invaders. If the enemy is known well, the defense against it will be easier.

Now, using this analogy, I will talk about your enemies and the features of my soldiers that are placed in your body to fight against them. However, I have to remind you of something first: as you know, every army has to have a top commander. Similarly, there is someone who has placed such a perfect system like me in your body, someone who has boundless knowledge and power, and has no one else superior to Him or has no one to receive orders and instructions. That is our Lord God Almighty. Since He knows very well what kinds of enemies you will face, He has created me with all my troops so that you can be defended against those enemies.

The enemies of your body are germs, which enter your body through different passage ways, including digestion, respiration, excretion and the skin. “Germ” is a general term referring to many kinds of micro-organisms. Some of them are bacteria, some are fungi and some are viruses. Your body needs different special tactics to defend against each group of germs and my soldiers are quite talented in those tactics. I have to be always watchful against germs coming from outside. Not only that, but I also have to be careful about inner enemies, that is, the cells in your body which suddenly turn into “terrorists” becoming harmful and spoiling the system. You call those cells “cancerous.” It is a great challenge for me to cope with those cells because they originate from among your very own cells and they know our tactics very well. Nevertheless, with God’s help, we can defeat them. However, when too much stress and anxiety weaken me I might miss some of those cancerous cells, which will grow and become tumors. In fact, cancerous cells develop much more in number than is commonly known. But my soldiers constantly check every single cell that is formed in your body and try to see whether it is normal or not. As soon as they discover a cancerous “terrorist” cell, they try to quickly destroy it. However, some cancerous cells are disguised like a wolf wearing a sheepskin so that they can avoid detection. My soldiers make rounds and check the cells from outside by only looking at their skin. Thus, they can be manipulated. All of your cells, including those with germs or cancer, contain protein with a special code which identifies the cells as being yours. When my soldiers encounter our fellow cells carrying those coded proteins, they release them. But the enemies who do not carry this code (or password) are immediately caught and destroyed. When we have diseases like cancer, however, the cancerous cells may evade our “rounds man” because they know this password. Sometimes the opposite may happen: my soldiers get confused and cannot identify their fellow cells despite carrying the right password, assume that they are enemies and start to attack them. These types of diseases, called Autoimmune diseases, emerge with a quite complicated mechanism which is a puzzle even for me! For example, during rheumatoid arthritis, which is among the many long-lasting and unrecoverable diseases, my soldiers attack and gradually destroy the tissues like cartilage, cardiac muscle, eye lenses, and the tubes of the kidneys with which they share a body. In fact, when we are created as a whole system (when you are only an embryo in your mother’s womb), some of my soldiers make an agreement with the other cells of your body, announcing that they will forever stay friends with them, will show tolerance to them and will only attack the enemies. But, somehow this agreement is broken later; my soldiers do not obey me anymore.

Now it is time for my group of soldiers to introduce themselves:

The most general term by which we are identified with is white blood cells or leukocyte. We appear approximately 6,000 to 7,000 times in each cubic millimeter of human blood. The other blood cells, which are called red blood cells (erythrocyte) are red in color; it is for this reason that we are called white. Since blood vessels can reach to the remotest edges of the body, we roam around the body through those vessels and look for work to do. Of course, not everyone can do everything. So, we are first divided into two sections. The cells in the first section contain microscopic granules, so they are called granular leukocyte. The cells in the second section do not contain such granules, so they are called agranular leukocyte. Those sections are divided into groups among themselves. The first section has three groups: neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils. The second section has two groups named monocyte and lymphocyte.

Eosinophills: You may not know much about these soldiers that make up 12% of the whole protective body. However, during allergic reactions and diseases caused by parasites, the number of these soldiers increases. They complete the effect of the antibodies produced against the antigens. Some chemical substances like histamine appear as a reaction to antigens, such as itchiness, rash, and swelling. Eosinophils reduce the effects of those substances and the symptoms.

Basophils, which are the least in number, make up the 0.5% of the body. Those soldiers are present mostly in the scars that are healing or in highly infected areas. The granules inside basophils contain two very important substances called heparin and histamine. Histamine helps expand the blood vessels and accelerates the release of active substances within me from the blood vessel walls, enabling them to reach to the affected area. Heparin also prevents the blockage of blood vessels because of blood clot.

Lymphocytes of the second section are the group of soldiers which goes through special training and has expertise in many subjects. They make up 20-25% of the soldiers in my system. Those soldiers detect antigens and germs and remove them from the body. Every soldier has a detector which identifies a certain antigen. Therefore, in your blood, there are millions of lymphocyte soldiers, which are different from each other and do not have a pair. For any antigen of a germ, you will definitely find a lymphocyte that finds and kills it. Those soldiers can be grouped according to their appearances, as small, medium, and large lymphocytes. Each group has different special features. We can also divide them according to their maturation and training process as B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes. Although both of them originate from stem cells in the bone marrow, T-lymphocytes mature in the thymus before they move to the other lymph tissues such as the spleen, liver, and tonsils (Thymus is a gland in the chest that talked about itself in the previous issue). B-lymphocytes, however, mature in the bone marrow, and go directly to the tonsils, appendicitis, spleen and other lymph tissues. When the T lymphocytes mature in the bone marrow, they acquire different new features. Some of them work as T helper cell, some work as natural killer T-cells and some work as suppressor T-cell. A helper T-cell, which is triggered by an antigen that is specific to it, secretes lymphokines, which makes B-cells produce antibodies. Among those lymphokines, interleukin-2 activates the natural killer T-cells, which kill the infected cells. The killer T-cells do not bind directly to an antigen. Rather, they secrete a substance that kills the infected cell after joining with the antibodies that were previously bound to the infected cells. On average, T-cells live 2-4 years; some, however, live more than 10 years. Today, the defense mechanism of the T-lymphocytes creates an issue in terms of organ transplantation. If, for some reason, a foreign organ (a kidney or heart, for example) is transplanted into the body, the T-lymphocytes attack that organ immediately. Those “headless” soldiers do not know that the body really needs that organ and try to eliminate it, therefore, leading to transplant rejection or tissue incompatibility. The T-lymphocytes treat the foreign organ the same way as they do to the cancerous cells: they attack and try to destroy it. For this reason, the immunologists are trying to discover medicines that will help them control the soldier T-lymphocytes whenever they need to be stopped.

Dear Peter, have you ever thought about how all this happens? While you have no idea about a germ that might enter your body, those memory cells, which are placed in your blood with a boundless compassion by our Creator, remember an enemy that they saw years ago, and begin to make weapons right away. Since those cells are devoid of reason and consciousness, to operate them there has to be Someone with a great knowledge and will.

The lymph nodes are production centers for the lymphocytes found at some particular places in the body. They resemble variously sized military headquarters. The lymphocytes are produced mostly at infection sites, which are the little lymph tissue groups located under the epithelium that lines along the walls of the digestive tube, respiratory track, and the bladder. When fighting with bacterial infections the lymph nodes swell and enlarge as much as 1–2 cm. In addition to the lymph nodes that extend through the lymph vessels, the areas such as nape, groin and the axilla (underarm) also contain lymph nodes. If you get an upper respiratory tract infection, the lymph nodes at your tonsils and neck areas become swollen. If you get a urinary track infection the nodes in your groin area become swollen. As for digestive track infections, it is the responsibility of the lymphocytes in your appendix to fight against germs. Some scientists view this organ, which is an extension of the cecum (the blind gut), as a “dead” piece of intestine. Both the appendix and tonsils are quite useful organs that produce lymphocytes in normal circumstances; they are not some useless remnants. For that reason, it is not right to remove them when it is not really necessary. However, we have to remember the proverb that says, “We salt the food so that it does not smell bad; but, what do we do if the salt itself smells bad? Then, we have to get rid of the salt.” Similarly, in some bodies where my system is weak and so is lymphocyte production, those areas become home to germs and you have to remove them.

Other than the soldiers of the immune system, several organs in your body have their own ways of protecting your body. Those organs do not have soldiers like in my system; theirs are like a “civil defense.” Chief among those are your skin which works as a natural barricade against the entrance of the germs, the mucous membrane that lines along the walls of your mouth and inner nose, interferon which is a substance produced by your cells against viruses, and an antibacterial substance called lysozyme which exists in your tears and sweat. Therefore, sweating, crying, and runny nose are not things to be ashamed of; they are only the protective systems that have been naturally placed in your body by our Lord God.

Dear Peter, I think I should stop here although there are still so many features of me that you have to discover. After all, beneath all diseases and deaths you will find disorders related to me. The biochemical processes in which many of my soldiers operate are not exactly known yet. If those are revealed, doctors will likely succeed in healing many other diseases. However, sooner or later you will reach the destined end: death. No creation can be immortal; there will definitely be a problem and you will have to leave this world, wherein you are only a guest. If you carefully contemplate the works of art in your body, in the hereafter you will have solved the riddle of the delicacies of those works. Of course, everyone’s time of death is unknown. Therefore, in this limited time, give your organs their due and give thanks to the God Almighty who gave you those gifts. Live according to His will, and always remember to glorify Him. Goodbye, Peter! May you and your troop be healthy!

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey