In the first episode of the anime series Cells at Work!, Pneumococcus bacteria suddenly invade the human body. The neutrophils eliminate most Pneumococcus, but one of them runs away, intent on attacking the lungs. White Blood Cell rescues Red Blood Cell during the attack and accompanies her to the lungs as the former searches for the stray Pneumococcus and the latter drops off the carbon dioxide. After White Blood Cell leaves; however, Red Blood Cell is terrified by the stray Pneumococcus that emerges from her package. Realising this, White Blood Cell corners Pneumococcus into a trap in the lungs where he is captured and sent in a rocket to be sneezed out.
How true are the events of the anime episode? Join us as we learn more about Pneumococcus and how it can cause serious damage to the human body.
Blood. It is the stuff of life. It runs along the blood vessels of the human body, delivering oxygen and nutrients to cells while carrying off carbon dioxide and wastes. It is made up of two components: plasma and cells. Plasma, making up 55% of blood, is the liquid component containing proteins, electrolytes, nutrients and wastes suspended in water. The characters of Cells at Work! reside in the cellular component making up the remaining 45%. Nearly all cells in the blood are red blood cells with the remainder residing in a buffy coat composed of platelets and white blood cells.
Cells at Work! is
a manga series written and illustrated by Akane Shimizu. Set in a typical human
body, the series tells the daily lives of blood cells represented by human
beings and what they do during homeostasis and disease. In particular, the
series focuses on a Red Blood Cell codenamed AE3803 and the white blood cell (neutrophil)
U-1146 who frequently meet each other in the series. David Production produced
an anime series which was screened from July to September 2018. In anticipation
of the second season of the anime which is currently in production, I will be
starting a series where I explain the science behind each episode of Cells at Work!
I am passionate in exploring and explaining how the human
body works, particularly in how it defends itself against infection. In fact, I
completed my majors in physiology and immunology in my undergraduate science degree
and I recently completed my PhD in immunology. Hence, I have a good background
of how your body works which helps in understanding what is happening in each
episode and whether each episode is reflective of real-life.
Given my scientific background, this blog series won’t just
touch on the medical side of the episodes. I will also go through the science
of what is happening in each episode to explain how your body works in health
and disease. In addition, I won’t explain every part of the episode. Instead, I
will focus on the main topic of the episode and explain to you some things that
the anime series either simplifies or overlooks. I hope that my blog posts will
complement your experience of the anime series so that you have a fuller
picture of how your body works while understanding what is going on in each
episode.
Tune into the next blog post where I will introduce the characters
of the anime series (i.e., your cells) and what they look like in real life. From
there, look forward to a blog post weekly where I explain the science behind
each episode. See you there!
