Page 158 - The Miracle of Hormones
P. 158

THE MIRACLE OF HORMONES



              was awarded the Nobel Prize in
              1994 for his work in cellular com-
                                                    It is He Who created the
              munication. Professor Gilman
                                                     heavens and the Earth
              had this to say about this subject:
                                                     with truth. The day He
                   If the brain needs sugar, the
                   liver has got to put it out. If  says "Be!" it is. His speech
                   the muscles need more          is Truth. The Kingdom will
                   blood, the heart has got to       be His on the Day the
                   beat faster. Hundreds of dif-     Trumpet is blown, the
                   ferent chemical signals flow
                                                   Knower of the Unseen and
                   around the body, released
                                                    the Visible. He is the All-
                   from one cell to influence
                                                      Wise, the All-Aware.
                   the activities of other cells.
                                                         (Qur'an, 6: 73)
                   Cells are constantly being
                   bombarded with very large
                   numbers of chemical signals
                   that tell them what to do and how to perform…The bigger problem,
                   and the one that is most difficult to figure out, is how all of these
                   modules interact together. 48
                   And the AFCS, beginning its work towards this goal, explained
              their enterprise using this comparison;

                   The Alliance will launch voyages of discovery aimed at two conti-
                   nents (cardiac myocytes, B lymphocytes). We know a little about the
                   coastline of each continent—a few harbors and mountain ranges
                   near the coast (receptors, ligands, and crudely sketched signaling
                   pathways). We will thus concentrate first on exploring the coast
                   more thoroughly, at the outset with more attention to the harbors
                   that we know best (e.g., G protein-coupled receptors and heterotri-
                   meric G proteins) but not neglecting many we know less well
                   (receptor tyrosine kinases, cytokine receptors, etc.). Mapping the
                   interior of the continent begins with expeditions to inland areas







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