Page 115 - The Miracle of Human Creation

THE CREATION OF A HUMAN BEING FROM A CELL

mother has consumed little iron, the placenta extracts the amount requ-
ired from the mother's blood, supplies the baby's needs and protects it
from every kind of danger. 34
The placenta also expertly performs the reverse operation, carrying
waste material from the foetus to the mother's blood.
It must not be forgotten that the placenta, which we have described
as "choosing", "taking"' "storing" and "carrying" is a tissue composed of
cells. It is the placenta which performs all the activities denoted by the
verbs listed above; for example, it knows that there is a need for iron, and
it is able to choose the element iron from among other substances and it
knows how the iron it selects will be used. It is not a human being which
has this knowledge but a collection of cells called the placenta. The cells
which constitute the placenta recognize the material they need and are ab-
le to select it, and the fact that a cell can recognize an element is surely a
miracle. In addition to recognizing this element, it is even more miraculo-
us that it can take the appropriate material in the required amount and
carry it to a particular location. The information given so far and that will
follow must always be appreciated with this in mind.
The events that occur in the miracle of human creation indicate a
consciousness displayed by the cells, and by the molecules and atoms that
produce the cells. Indeed, this consciousness does not belong to any of
them, but to God Who creates them and inspires in them the functions
that they are to perform.
All the details we will examine in the following pages are also a cle-
ar proof of creation.

Other Vital Functions of the Placenta

The umbilical cord, which joins the foetus to the placenta has three blo-
od vessels and looks like a long rope. One of these blood vessels is called
the umbilical vein. It sends blood containing nutrient material and oxygen
from the placenta to the baby. The other two of these vessels are called the
umbilical arteries which transport blood containing carbon dioxide and

113