Chapter 1-RBC

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Follow me for a sneak peek into the life of a red blood cell in your body.
You are now in the bone marrow.
Look around; it's quite a busy environment, isn't it? Well, producing the cells that carry nutrients and remove waste from every cell in your body is certainly a buzzing task.
Oh, look! There's a hematopoietic stem cell, formulating different DNA sequences to create various kinds of cells, including red blood cells (RBCs).
Over there is a room full of cradles, nurturing infant RBCs and ensuring their proper growth.
Let's quietly observe their life.

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RBC 1: Hey, couldn't we stay here for a few more days?

RBC 2: Don't even think about it! We're fully matured now, and the others are going to starve to death if we don't enter the bloodstream.

RBC 1: Well, fine. Let's go.

RBC 2: Rise and shine, buddy! Let's chit-chat along the way.

(In the blood vessel)

RBC 1: This place is so exhausting. Why aren't we allowed to move a bit slower?

RBC 2: Because, you know, the whole nutrition and oxygen availability thing. But apart from that, here's the deal: You see those guys over there, just fooling around? (Points to platelets) They're programmed to act on us if we stay still for too long. We'll get trapped and dried to death in a thrombus! (blood clot inside the blood vessel)

RBC 1: That's so scary.

RBC 2: But you know what's worse? This thrombus could travel through the bloodstream to different regions a nd block blood flow to vital organs like the brain and heart, causing the death of this entire world.

RBC 1: So my mere irresponsibility could lead to the death of my world, just like that? No, I won't let that happen-whatever it takes!

RBC 2: I can tell you're not irresponsible. It's just in your mind-you're doing great. Look, we're entering the spleen. Get ready to turn and twist because the tunnel is about to get smaller than our size.

RBC 1: I'm ready.

(Passing through the narrow tunnel)

RBC 1: What's happening? Why aren't you able to pass through? Come on, hold my hand!

Old RBC: No, you go on, kid. My time has come.

(Old RBC tries to twist but gets stuck at the site.)

(From the shadows, a macrophage speaks.)

Macrophage: Out of luck, huh? Are you ready?

Old RBC: Are you asking? (smiles gently)

(Macrophage takes a deep breath, raises its sword, slices the old RBC, and cleans the area.)

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(Vital force)

Don't worry, almost every sacrifice made in your body serves a purpose. In this case, our poor old RBC got stuck due to some distortion in its shape, and the macrophage digests the hemoglobin and iron from the RBC, releasing them for storage and recycling to make new RBCs.

You've reached the end of published parts.

⏰ Last updated: Oct 28 ⏰

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