Page 52 - Consciousness in the Cell

CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE CELL

WHEN YOU EAT SUGAR, A GIANT FACTORY

GOES TO WORK IN YOUR BODY

If you happen to eat food that contains more sugar than you
need, what prevents a rise of sugar in your blood?
1. First of all, cells in your pancreas locate and isolate the sugar
molecules, out of hundreds of other molecules in the blood. In
addition, it decides whether the number of these molecules is too
great or too small—that is, they are effectively counted. Tiny cells
that you can't even see with your naked eye, that have no eyes,
brains or hands, can calculate the number of sugar molecules in the
blood plasma—this is certainly something worth thinking about!
2. If these pancreas cells determine that the blood contains too
many sugar molecules, they decide to store this extra sugar. They
cannot carry out this storage process themselves, however, stimu-
late other cells located very far away to do this for them.
3. But these distant cells will not store sugar unless they receive
an order to do so. So the pancreatic cells release a hormone that
tells these distant cells to start storing sugar. The formula for this
hormone, which we call insulin, is encoded in the DNA of the pan-
creas cells since they were first formed.
4. Next, special enzymes, or worker proteins found in the pan-
creatic cells read this formula, then begin producing insulin
according to its directions. To effect this synthesis, hundreds of
different enzymes go at work on different tasks.
5. The synthesized insulin is then dispatched to the target cells,
through the blood—which is the most reliable and speedy man-
ner.
6. Other cells that read the insulin's order to store sugar obey
this command without fail. Gateways open up, allowing the sugar
molecules to pass through into the cells.

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