The Killer Ts
Here's a video that looks like it came right out of a science fiction movie, but it's not the blob or some other exterrestrial body snatcher. This fight takes place in our body every day--it's the microscopic battlefield of the Killer T Cells.
It's not just doctors and mad scientists who help solve the diseases that afflict us. This video was created by Alex Ritter, a student at the University of Cambridge to show what Killer Ts can do and was recently posted on Open Culture. "The process is shown at 92 times the actual speed. And for a sense of scale, a cytotoxic T cell is only 10 microns in length, or about one-tenth the width of a human hair."
Important? You bet! If we can figure out how these little killers work we can use them to fight disease.
It's not just doctors and mad scientists who help solve the diseases that afflict us. This video was created by Alex Ritter, a student at the University of Cambridge to show what Killer Ts can do and was recently posted on Open Culture. "The process is shown at 92 times the actual speed. And for a sense of scale, a cytotoxic T cell is only 10 microns in length, or about one-tenth the width of a human hair."
Important? You bet! If we can figure out how these little killers work we can use them to fight disease.
Cytotoxic T cells are very precise and efficient killers. They are able to destroy infected or cancerous cells, without destroying healthy cells surrounding them….By understanding how this works, we can develop ways to control killer cells. This will allow us to find ways to improve cancer therapies, and ameliorate autoimmune diseases caused when killer cells run amok and attack healthy cells in our bodies.What's your major?
After I saw the video. I found that the Cancer is really dangerous, because it will attack the other cells then eat them and make themselves grow up. In the video we can saw a very beautiful thing colorful and cool. But when you saw it try to eat the other cells and divide, at that time I remember an old saying "something dangerous will hide behind beautiful apparence"
ReplyDeleteMy major is healthy science. I love that this shows what a killer T Cell actually looks like. Things like this interest me. It's fascinating how our body can defend itself. I actually learned last quarter that the killer T cell is under command of T cells. The killer T cell is the attacking cell, and it follows the orders of the T cells. The T cell also controls the memory T cells. I find this al interesting and that is while I chose this major. This reason we have survived so long is because of our immune system. I also remember that this can be dangerous. The immune system can attack everything, and sometimes its attacks functioning/ normal cells. It is important to have control for something so dangerous. This also shows how something so small and minuscule can have such a huge significance on an organism. Makes me feel slightly important in a society.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it is an interesting way to present a project. Indeed, on the one hand, making an artistic video about a serious subject is a good way to get people to interest such problem. The best way to get one's attention is to interest this person into what you are saying. In ancient Greece, orators used this strategy to make a point. They used to tell stories to speak of a more serious problem in beyond. It is making your point didactic : associating placere and docere, pleasure and pedagogy. However, on the other hand, the video is so artistic that the main point may be left aside.
ReplyDeleteMy major is Pre-Nursing. I believe this video is important to watch especially for those interested in medicine and how the body works. In this video, you can clearly see how the t killer cells attack the dangerous cells in this case: a cancer cell. Thanks to to the effects added to the video.
ReplyDeleteIn this video, we can see that how The killer Ts cell touch other cells and eat them to grow up. It shows survival of the fittest, however the killer Ts cell is actually dangerous. It can grow up infinity, if this cell into human's body, it will kill people.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a mayor settle yet, but before i come to USA, i was studying medicine and surgery, and as follower and lover of the the career of medicine, for me any research that is found can be a huge help for science, we don't know if with something little like this research, later can result the cure of a big decease. These research also help and motivate students to choose their careers. In the video we see how TS cells function as a killer of infected or cancerous cell, without affecting health cells. Researching and developing this cell in a certain way that can make this cells work in other fields such as cancer therapies, and ameliorate autoimmune diseases, that is when cells that they don't suppose to attack.
ReplyDeleteAs a major in Kinesiology, science is a big subject for the prerequisites needed. It has always been fascinating to learn about anatomy and physiology of our bodies. Killer T cells are the reasons we are able to fight off diseases and illnesses, however, there are conditions, already stated where the immune system will attack normal cells, such as lupus. If it weren't for science, boy, where would we be right now if there weren't any vaccines, treatments or therapies?
ReplyDeleteI don't know that much about medical and how things work in our body. But, after watching the video which showed how T cells attacked cancer and how it destroying it. Also the video gives me the basic understanding of how cancer cells looks and how they spread throughout our body. I learned how T cells help us to stay healthy because they fight against any dangerous diseases and try to get rid of them. For me video was awesome and very easy to understand because it was focusing on one specific topic.I think people who are non-medical major like me should watch this video to just get the understanding of T cells and how they work.
ReplyDeleteMy major i computer science and i really don't know much about medical things, but it sounds great to me as killer Ts can destroy cancerous cells without destroying healthy cells and it will help in improving cancer therapies. I hope this will work good and we can fight against cancer. In the video i can see it destroy the cancer cell and it grows up, it will be great if it doesn't affect the healthy cells, otherwise it will be a very dangerous cell to keep in the human body if it keeps destroying healthy cells too.
ReplyDeleteI am a pre-nursing major and this blog is currently relevant to me because we are on the Immune System lecture in Microbiology. Our immune system is our first line of defense against any foreign invaders and it is crazy to think how many people take it for granted and do not take action to keeping it strong; of course our immune system is fully capable of taking care of itself but it could always you a hand or two. Our immune system is so quick to react to antigens that sometimes it can begin attacking our body’s own healthy cells causing autoimmune diseases like, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. The immune system is our best fighting chance at beating illness. Antivirals, medicines against viruses, are not safe for our bodies so doctors choose not to give them to patients, but by watching the immune systems of infected patients closely they are able to keep the body strong and stable to fight off viruses. Things as simple as washing your hands, getting vaccines, and being well-rested every night increase your chances of fighting off illness significantly.
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