Page 40 - Consciousness in the Cell

CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE CELL

CELLS THAT COMMIT SUICIDE TO KEEP THE

BODY FROM HARM

Many cells produce a series of proteins in order to destroy
themselves when they become superfluous, defective or diseased.
However, so long as a cell is beneficial to the body, these proteins
are obstructed from doing their deadly duty. If the cell becomes
diseased, turns renegade or cancerous, or begins to threaten the
health of the organism, the fatal proteins are released and activat-
ed to kill off the offending cell.
The cell's ability to make the right decision at the right time and
place is very important. In the event that it can't, that is, when the
killer proteins are activated in a healthy cell, then healthy tissue
will die, and the result will be death of the whole organism. But if
the harmful or diseased cells are allowed to survive, then the
organism may die too.
A cell that has "decided" to commit suicide and activated its
killer protein, first shrinks and pulls away from its neighbors.
Soon blebs appear on its surface, and it appears to boil. Then its
nucleus and finally, the cell itself break apart. Other surrounding
cells immediately ingest its remaining fragments.
A more interesting event is that the other living cells do not
clean up all the dead ones. Some are deliberately left alone,
because they have not yet completed their duties. For example,
tissues such as the lens of the eye, the surface of the skin, and the
nails are all composed of dead cells. But because the body has
need of them, they are not destroyed. The important fact that tril-
lions of cells in the body all make decisions about which dead cells
to destroy and which to leave alone is a point worth reflecting on.
What gives the cell consciousness to make and apply such vital
decisions? Who taught the cell to recognize conditions that bring

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