Page 35 - The Miracle in the Immune System

Besieged Castle: The Human Body 33

and drought for extended periods. This is why it is diffi-
cult to destroy certain microbes.

Viruses
The human body resembles a very valuable diamond
stored in a safe, receiving the most intensive care and
protection. Some of the organisms that try to invade
the body act like experienced thieves. One of the best
known and most important of these thieves is the virus.
This organism, whose existence we became aware
of with the invention of the electron microscope, is too
simple-structured and small to be considered even as a
cell. Viruses, which vary in sizes ranging from 0.1 to
0.280 microns, are excluded from the world of living
things for this reason. 2
Although categorised as being apart from the world
of living beings, viruses indisputably possess at least as
exceptional abilities as all other living beings do. A clos-
er examination of the lives of viruses will make this fact
more apparent. Viruses are the compulsory parasites of
living beings. This means, they
cannot survive if they do not set-
tle into a plant, animal, or human
cell, and consume its food and en-
ergy. Viruses do not have a sys-
tem that would enable them to
survive on their own. As if they
are aware of this, they deftly slip

A virus modifying its structure so
that it is not identified by the
immune system. (The rhinovirus 14)