A molecular Level look at the Miracle that is life
The mystery of life and the magic of existence—when you stop to consider just how amazing a human life is—and the number of factors that had to align to bring you into existence, it’s mind-blowing! And I am not talking about what factors brought your mother and father together—I am talking about molecular factors—biology at a molecular level.
If you want to get your mind right and start conceptualizing this thought—at a higher level than molecular—Alexander Tsiaras’s amazing TED Talk: Conception to Birth—Visualized can help you along. The Talk shares a compelling medical visualization that takes you on a journey from the moment your biological life begins—until we are able to self-sustain as a human and be born into this world. This video shows the marvel that is science paired with the miracle of life—or as Alexander puts it: “these two ‘simple cells’ that have this unbelievable machinery that will become the magic of you.“
Inside these “simple cells”—sperm and egg— is the molecular information that creates the machinery of you. You grow from a single cell zygote to a newborn with 26 billion cells in just nine months! And that zygote cell that contains the molecular copy of your genetic instructions is copied just 32 times to get you born and breathing on your own. This sheer fact is mind-blowing—one which I didn’t fully appreciate in seventh-grade biology.
Watch the TED Talk: Conception to Birth—Visualized and enjoy the ride to life! In my next post, I will talk more about the amazing science of epigenetics and how this fascinating area of biology determines which cells become which, and how cellular malfunction in your 49 trillion cells (that’s right as an adult you have approximately 49,000,000,000,000 cells all with the exact same copy of your DNA) ultimately leads to disease and death.
Incredible to think about, isn’t it?
JS