Page 42 - The Miracles of Smell and Taste

40

cilia. Entry of the calcium ions causes the chloride channels to open, and
chloride ions leave the cilia. In this way, a cell with an initial negative
charge becomes without charge and an electrical signal forms as a result
of this series of chemical reactions, moving along the cell axon to reach the

olfactory bulb.
Some scent molecules do not affect the level of cAMP, but instead
raise the concentration of IP3 (inositol 1,4,5-Triphosphate), which initiates
the process that releases the electrical signal in the cell. The stages of the
chain reaction of this cellular communication line have not yet been fully
28
understood. However, the communication within these minute cells is
clearly the product of an astonishing design.
While all this is taking place at one end of the olfactory cells, aston-
ishing processes are occurring in the axons at the other end. The axon car-
ries the signal emerging in the cell to the olfactory bulb in the anterior re-
gion of the brain. (Figure 11) In order to reach the bulb, neuronal cells
form axons that are bundled in groups of 10-100 to penetrate the ethmoid-
29
al cribriform plate, whose porous structure allows the olfactory nerves
to pass through it. The design in this part of the skull is just one factor that

enables you to perceive odors. Otherwise it would be impossible for the
nerves to establish communications with one another, and thus to trans-
mit olfactory signal. If all the necessary elements comprising the olfacto-
ry system were present, but nerves’ passage through the bone was imped-
ed, then you would be unable to smell. No doubt, every detail in this sys-
tem is wholly indispensable.
To summarize these facts in a single sentence: The flawless commu-
nication in the olfactory cell is the result of special design, and that design
is just one of the countless proofs of the splendor in creation.

The Miracles of Smell and
Taste