Author: James Ong

My name is James Ong. I am The Active Evaluator. I work on program evaluation, but I also branch off to areas that interest me.

The Science behind “Cells at Work!!” Episode 1: “Bump”

Platelets facing towards Megakaryocyte in the anime version of the bone marrow
In this episode, we’ll look at how platelets develop in the body.

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.

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Re-introducing the blog series: The Science behind “Cells at Work!!”

Anime poster of Cells at Work!!

Cells at Work! is a manga series written and illustrated by Akane Shimizu which talks about the daily life of cells, represented by human beings, in the human body. The manga chapters talk about a variety of human functions such as blood circulation and cover a broad spectrum of infectious and non-infectious diseases such as Pneumococcus and cancer. David Production produced an anime series on Cells at Work! which first aired from July to September 2018. The anime series has been positively received and has received credit from the teaching and academic communities for its accurate portrayal of the human body in a format that is engaging to young people and young adults. Consequently, from January to March 2021, two new anime series are being aired: the second season of Cells at Work!! produced by David Production and the spin-off Cells at Work! Code Black produced by Liden Films. As well as that, the sixth and final volume of the Cells at Work! manga will be released in Japan on February 9th 2021 with the final chapter focusing on the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

As an Immunology PhD graduate who is passionate about how the human body works in health and disease, I have become fascinated by the manga and anime series. In fact, I completed a blog series where I talked about the science behind each episode of the first season of Cells at Work!. In this series, I provided more information on what happens to the human body in real life and how it compares to the anime.

With the second season of Cells at Work!! currently airing, I will also be starting my new series “The Science behind “Cells at Work!!”! Similar to the first series, I will be talking about the science behind the body process and/or disease shown in each episode to provide context on what is happening. In addition, I will be talking about recent scientific findings behind trending topics in medical research such as the gut microbiota. These blog posts aim to fill in some of the gaps that the anime episode either overlooks or simplifies to provide a fuller picture on how the cells and human body work in real life, both during normal human activity as well as disease.

I have already written a blog post providing an introduction behind the gut microbiota, the collection of commensal bacteria living in your gut. This introductory blog post will give you an excellent introduction on the interesting link between the gut microbiota and human health which has become a focal point in medical research. Have a read through this blog post before the episodes on lactic acid bacteria are aired. In the meantime, look forward to the first blog post of the series where I talk about how platelets develop in the body. See you there!

A “Cells at Work!!” introduction on the gut microbiota

Neutrophil and lactic acid bacteria slash through H. pylori bacterium.
In this season of “Cells at Work!!”, we will look at how the human body defends itself against infectious diseases and how the gut microbiota is important in human health.

“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. 

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COVID-19 vaccines: how do they work?

Elderly woman getting vaccinated.

The COVID-19 pandemic is still continuing around the world, with many cities and countries having to re-implement lockdowns as they enter their second waves of infection. Scientific research on COVID-19 is continuing at a frantic pace to develop vaccines that will eliminate COVID-19 and stop the cycle of lockdowns. Many countries, including Australia and Canada, have secured COVID-19 vaccines to distribute to their populations pending successful clinical trials and regulatory approval. Although all COVID-19 vaccines aim to stimulate an immune response and memory against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the virus that causes COVID-19), they vary in their composition with different vaccine types having distinct advantages and disadvantages. In this blog post, I will explain how vaccines work in protecting the person against COVID-19. I will then discuss the vaccine types being developed to immunize people against COVID-19 and outline the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

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An infographic on chronic diseases and COVID-19

Coming off from the previous poster/infographic detailing the consequences of COVID-19 infection in different body systems, I decided to design a smaller infographic describing the link between chronic diseases (also known as non-communicable diseases or NCDs) and severe and fatal COVID-19 infection. This infographic was inspired by an article by Sandro Demaio and Edwin Kwong where they expressed the need for the world to respond to the “…long overlooked NCD pandemic…”. Being passionate about both infectious and chronic diseases and knowing the link between the two, I decided to create an infographic more clearly describing the link.

Here, I have put the statistics on various chronic diseases on different medical devices (e.g., the body scales for obesity, a blood pressure monitor for hypertension…). These statistics are sourced from the 2017-18 National Health Survey conducted by the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). This is followed by a paragraph stating how much a particular chronic disease increases the risk of severe or fatal COVID-19 infection. These are based on odds ratios derived from various systematic reviews, where they compile individual clinical studies (up to mid-April 2020) to generate more precise results. These odds ratios are anticipated to become more accurate as more studies are published in the area.

Given the oft-neglected chronic disease pandemic which will only become increasingly common, it is time that we act on not only the re-emergence of new and existing infectious diseases but also tackle the rising prevalence of chronic diseases mostly fuelled by lifestyle choices. Tackling these dual problems will ensure that people can live a healthy life so that they can perform at their best and protect themselves against infectious disease and ill-health.