The Graveyard of Cell
Perhaps you have thought about the existence of insects such as beetles and flies: what roles do they have and whether their non-existence would leave a vacuum in the world. That some animals and plants appear to be useless to us is not surprising. However, for our body organs to have no role or purpose, seems strange. For example, there is a gland in humans called the thymus located in the chest behind the breastbone (sternum). Although the gland was identified and named in the era of ancient Greece, it was not known to have any significant role, and was considered to be pretty useless, until in 1961 Jacques Miller was able to perform a series of experiments and identify the critical role of this gland Now, medical students are well aware of the thymus as it is considered as the graveyard of dead cells, it has a unique role in the immune system and without it, we would not survive.
The body’s immune system is like a great army consisting of various military ranks. One of the most important ranks is the T cell. When foreign organisms like viruses and bacteria enter the body, they are destroyed by these cells.
These cells like other cells in the blood, are derived from stem cells in bone marrow. Originally they are immature cells, which for training and development are sent to the thymus. In addition to learning military skills, they are trained to identify the enemy. This training is a very important and precise matter, because if this powerful military stages a coup against the human body, it can end its life.
Therefore it must be able to precisely identify billions of cells of the body in order to distinguish between native and foreign cells. This knowledge is acquired in the embryonic period. At a certain stage of the embryonic period, cells from each of the different types of cells of the body arc sent to the thymus as representative cells.
On the surface of even- cell there are receptor molecules. Through the receptor molecules on the cell’s surface. T cells arc able to differentiate between native and foreign cells. When cells in the body send their representatives to the thymus. T cells match themselves with them. We can say that all of the body’s cells send locks to the thymus in order that the appropriate keys to them are made in the thymus. Thus, every time the T cell police patrol encounters a cell, it tests its lock; any time it can open its lock it identifies it as native, otherwise it considers it an enemy and combats it. The training period in the thymus is tough. In this course, T cells are evaluated and tested. Field trials of military offenders and traitors are held in the thymus. T cells that attack native cells are sentenced to death by the thymus and are destroyed.
Interestingly, super intelligent immune cells sometimes make the work of doctors difficult. This is because when an organ is transplanted into another person, the T cells do not have any record of the cells in the new organ, and without knowing the intention of the doctor or patient, considers them as enemies and repulses them. That is why doctors are forced to prescribe drugs that weaken the soldiers.