1. The White Blood Cell: What it Does<br />By Ryder Lee<br />You get out of the apartment, ready to go to school. You go to school. You come back. You do some homework. You eat, and then you go to sleep, ready to wake up and start the cycle all over again. However, you are probably unaware of the dangers surrounding you. They may be invisible to the naked eye, but they can cause a lot more damage than you think. Everywhere you go, bacteria, viruses, and protists numbered in billions surround you, looking for prey. So how do you survive these invisible terrors? The answer: your immune system. <br />An immunity by dictionary definition is the ability to control, combat, and defeat diseases. There are 3 main players in your immune system. First are the platelets, which don’t actually combat the pathogen. They clot wounds so more diseases can’t get through. B cells produce antibodies and memorize the disease so if it comes again, the immune system can fight it more effectively. They also produce antibodies, which fight the disease. Then there are T cells. T cells are responsible, along with antibodies, to kill invading pathogens. B cells and T cells are known as white blood cells, or lymphocytes. <br />There are even more categories beyond that. T cells are designated into 3 main groups: Cytoxic, NK, and Helper. Cytoxic T cells are like soldiers. They destroy invaders. The invaders may be tumor cells, virally infected cells, or donor organs that are not accepted by the receiver due to incorrect blood type, or any sort of pathogen. NK cells due about the same work as the Cytoxic cells, but do not require activation by Helper and B cells. They respond immediately. Helper T cells help regulate other immune cells by releasing cytokines and chemicals. They also sort of ‘activate’ the other immune system cells. <br />B cells are also divided into groups. There are Plasma B cells, B1 B cells, B2 B cells, and Memory B cells. Plasma B cells are normally found outside the blood vessels. Freaky? Yes, but all white blood cells (lymphocytes) share the ability to move out of blood vessels. Plasma B cells produce antibodies, which make destroying them easier due to them binding and weakening the target. There are unusually large amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum (see organelles) in these cells. B1 B cells and B2 B cells also produce antibodies, and they self renew. Memory B cells ‘memorize’ a pathogen and store it so if the disease returns, the immune system stands ready. This is why many people only get the chicken pox once. However, you ask, “what about the cold, or the flu?” Why do we keep getting that? The answer: there are millions of diseases which cause similar symptoms, so they are all classified under ‘the common cold’. They are very similar in structure, so similar antibiotics all work against them, but that slight difference is enough to keep getting us sick. <br />“What about HIV?” you ask. “If our immune system works like a well oiled machine, why does HIV cause so much trouble?” HIV is a lot different than most other bacterium and viruses. It doesn’t attack regular cells, like Red Blood Cells. It attacks the lymphocytes, the same cells a lot of pathogens try to avoid. HIV attacks a lone lymphocyte. It gets inside it, and bides its time while cloning itself. Then, it bursts out with dozens of more HIV. These proceed to do the same thing that the original(s) did, and in a relatively short amount of time, the body has so little T cells left that they can’t fight other, common diseases, such as the fore mentioned cold. Eventually, the crippled body either dies, or is barely living by donor blood, injections, or medication. While this method of attack is uncommon, attacking undefended red blood cells is a popular trick. Malaria uses it, doing to red blood cells like HIV does to lymphocytes. Many other diseases hibernate for weeks, months, or years, or in a few cases, decades. This makes the body drop its guard, opening up the disease’s opportunities. HIV can be spread through infected needles, or through sex with an infected person.<br />Organelles<br />The cell is almost like a tiny body. And a tiny body needs tiny organs. All animal (or all eukaryotic cells for the matter) have organelles. The DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) is stored in a nucleus, with several organelles. Some of the major ones are: Mitochondrion, Rough and Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum, Golgi Complex and Golgi Bodies, Lysosomes, Vacuoles, Cell Membrane, and Ribosomes. Each of these has a different job. For example, the Ribosomes are in charge of protein production, along with the Mitochondrion. The Golgi Complex and Golgi Bodies distribute the proteins around the cell. The Vacuoles store materials, and Lysosomes break down potentially harmful substances. The Nucleus (All Eukaryotic cells have one) holds the DNA for all functions. <br />7654321<br />1-Endoplasmic Reticulum (rough and smooth)<br />2-Golgi Complex<br />3-Mitochondria<br />4-Vacuole<br />5-Lysosome<br />6-Nucleus<br />7-Ribosomes<br />Please note that, hidden from the picture, is the report listed above and the color key.<br />