Chapter 7: Adventures in Bodybuilding

This chapter was pretty to easy to understand, and also had vital information to the key to our bodies. The section that caught my attention was the “Bodybuilding for Blobs.” Okay, placozoans and sponges. How do these creatures have anything to do with us? Well, after reading this section, we have a lot in common. After looking for a picture of a placozoa, it looked like, a blob. It didn't seem to have any sort of digestive system like how Shubin explained. It amazed me how that they have specialized cells already on there so called “body.” When Shubin said, “In searching through their DNA and examining the molecules on the surface of their cells, we find that much of our body building apparatus is already there,” I was shocked. How can such a small organism be so similar to our complex bodies. Next, the sponge. First of all, sponges do not even look like any sort of animal, but to my surprise, it has cilia to capture food and has many properties to a body. The sponge even has “cell adhesion, communication, and scaffolding appraratus that we have.” Shubin still continues to amaze me with his findings.