Page 78 - Miracle in the Eye
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o far, we have covered the eye's structure, the unique
and flawless structure of each component working in
harmony, and the role of brain in seeing. We've empha-
sized how the eye, both in its segments and as a whole, is
nothing short of a miracle. From the point on, we'll analyze
the miracle of the eye's existence.
During our everyday lives, we come across countless eyes—those of
parents, siblings, friends, relatives; and of course our own in the mirror. How
did each of these equal miracles form?
A few years ago, the very eyes with which you read this page did not
exist. The being you refer to as "me" was just a single cell. First you split into
two cells, then into four. Millions of further splits followed, until you became
a small sphere the size of a finger. Next, upon this ball two black spots ap-
peared. As days passed, these spots became indentations and two unique or-
gans began to develop on their own. From undifferentiated cells, you
developed two eyes, each complete with a pupil, lens, cornea, retina, sclera,
iris, eyelids, nutritious fluids and billions of blood capillaries. In a matter of
weeks, the eyes with which you read these words were created completely.
After birth, you opened them to the world for the first time.
To gain a better understanding of the eye's development, look at the de-
velopment of the human body. As mentioned before, all mammals, humans
included, develop from a single cell in the mother's womb. The secret of how
this cell develops lies within that very cell, inside a molecule called DNA.
The Codes of Life
DNA contains millions of units of biological code written in a language
which only cells can understand. They keep a record of every aspect of a per-
son, from the structure of organs to physical details. One single cell develops
into the human body according to the information within the cells' DNA.
Under normal conditions, the process of cell division should result in
two identical cells. Therefore, one might expect the million-cell sphere that
results to be composed of identical cells. But this is not so. During cell divi-
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