In this episode, Neutrophil takes the red blood cells on a tour to the small intestine. On the way to the tea room, Killer T Cell stops and berates Neutrophil for not focusing on his job. Their argument gets cut short; though, by Campylobacter who invades the gut and demands the white blood cells to help him and his friends establish a colony. Intestinal Epithelial Cell, being taken as a hostage, tells Campylobacter about an area in the intestine where it is easy to infiltrate and infect. Campylobacter releases the hostage and goes inside the area, only to be met by M Cell who tells him to enjoy his last meal. Campylobacter suddenly gets surprised by the white blood cells who attack him and his friends, forcing them to flee. Killer T Cell forgives Neutrophil for underestimating him, only to take it back when Neutrophil forgets to serve tea to the red blood cells and rushes out of the room.

In this blog post, I will describe what Campylobacter bacteria are and how they cause gastrointestinal infection. I will then describe what Peyer’s patches are and how they assist in detecting and responding to gastrointestinal infection.

In this episode, Mumps Virus invades the parotid gland in the head, fulfilling Memory Cell’s visions of a future invasion by the virus. As Mumps Virus replicates quickly to overwhelm the white blood cells, Memory Cell tries to see the future as Plasma Cell struggles to bring him back to reality. As Memory Cell and Plasma Cell rummage through the records to find clues on the Mumps Virus, Memory Cell is still overwhelmed by the visions, prompting Plasma Cell to hit him on the head. Memory Cell then remembers that what he was seeing was actually in the past, where the white blood cells easily defeated weakened Mumps Virus from a mumps vaccine and Memory Cell made a record of the virus. Remembering what happened in the past, Plasma Cell and Memory Cell bring up a huge antibody gun to easily defeat the Mumps Virus and eliminate the infection, to the relief of the other cells.

In this blog post, I will go through what mumps is and how it arises. I will then explain how vaccines work in preventing mumps infection from becoming severe.

In this episode, Neutrophil meets Backward Cap Platelet who is training alone to become stronger. Backward Cap Platelet struggles to work with the other platelets to form a primary blood clot, but she receives encouragement from Neutrophil to use her positive attitude to motivate the other platelets. Walking along the temporal vein in the head, they are struck by a head bump which ruptures the capillaries, sending the cells flying in zero gravity. The platelets, including Backward Cap Platelet, try unsuccessfully to form a primary blood clot. They are spurred on by Megakaryocyte; though, to form the primary blood clot and the fibrin mesh, with Backward Cap Platelet risking her life to save a stray coagulation factor. The platelets save the day as they seal the damage and are rewarded for their hard work.

Following on from previous blog posts where I describe how red and white blood cells and T cells develop in the body, in this blog post I will talk about how platelets develop in the body, how platelets assist in repairing the damage produced by bruises and head bumps and the factors that can enhance platelet activity.

“Cells at Work!” is a manga and anime series that explains what cells, represented by anthropomorphised human beings, do in a healthy human body and how they respond to disease. Coming off the success of the first anime season, the second season of the anime is currently airing across most anime streaming platforms. The second season will continue to talk about how the human body responds to different infectious diseases. The season will also cover the important role of the gut microbiota, the collection of commensal bacteria in the human gut, in human health and disease with a particular focus on lactic acid bacteria. However, the manga and anime series overemphasise the role of lactic acid bacteria in human health. A healthy gut microbiota is more than just lactic acid bacteria; different commensal bacteria contribute to the varied functions of the gut microbiota. In addition, alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota can adversely affect human health and increase the risk of developing infectious and chronic diseases. In this blog post, I will outline the structure and functions of the gut microbiota and how its composition can be changed by a myriad of external factors. By the end of this blog post, I hope to provide you with a lot of background information on the gut microbiota to fill in some of the gaps in the anime series, enhancing your appreciation of the gut microbiota in human health.