Chapter 7: Adventures in Bodybuilding

Shubin begins the chapter by talking about the development of embryos. It was interesting to see the analogy he made to the spontaneous construction of a house. He also stated that the distinction between organisms is as simple as the way "our cells attach to one another, the ways that they communicate, and the different materials they make" (117). Shubin emphasizes the point that the communication between our cells is crucial to our development. I never really gave much thought to the complex "biological glue" that allows communication between cells and functions to hold our cells together, but Shubin's explanation allowed me to appreciate all the complexities of our bodies. The experiment with the sponge was fascinating; the sponge was able to form a new body from scratch after its counterparts had been separated. It was interesting to see how Shubin ended the chapter; he tied all of these observations together to conclude that single-celled organisms may have had the potential to form bodies, but the Earth may not have been prepared to deal with the "expenses" of having a body. Shubin's observations once again point to the fact that all the complexities in our bodies originate from humble origins.