Ch. 7

The connection between a house and a body makes it clear to me that what makes a body special is the way the cells spontaneously come together to form a body. I never knew cells had a special "glue" that sticks them together. In addition, I never knew that we had special "pads" between our joints that makes exercising easier for our bodies. I feel sorry for people with arthritis because almost everything they do with their afflicted joint recoils with pain. I was shocked to learn that the cave man is actually not so old as I thought they were. The first signs of life are many many times older than the first human and that dumbfounded me. What captured my mind in reading this chapter was when Shubin discussed the way cells "talk" to each other. I only thought nerves were the only cells that communicate through their signals, but then I found out almost all cells talk to each other. I wish I could talk to my cells to command them to do as I please. The last piece of information Shubin provides for us is oxygen may be linked to the building of the body. I can see this connection because all animals need oxygen to survive. I wonder what would happen to the creation of bodies if people keep destroying plant-life in the future, thus depriving us of oxygen.