Cell vs. virus: A battle for health - Shannon Stiles
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TEDEd Animation
Let’s Begin…
All living
things are made of cells. In the human body, these highly efficient
units are protected by layer upon layer of defense against icky invaders
like the cold virus. Shannon Stiles takes a journey into the cell,
introducing the microscopic arsenal of weapons and warriors that play a
role in the battle for your health.
Additional Resources for you to Explore
This is a really cool interactive site that takes you inside a cell.
This is the genetics science learning center.
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Your body is made of cells -- but how does a single cell know to become part of your nose, instead of your toes? The answer is in your body's instruction book: DNA. Joe Hanson compares DNA to detailed manual for building a person out of cells -- with 46 chapters (chromosomes) and hundreds of thousands of pages covering every part of you.
RNA, the genetic messenger, makes sure the DNA recipe gives your cells exactly what they ordered. But sometimes that means inhibiting some other RNA that got the recipe wrong. This process is called RNA interference (RNAi), and it acts as a self-correcting system within the complicated genetic kitchen of your body. Alex Dainis explains the importance -- and exciting potential -- of RNAi.
This is the genetics science learning center.
Scientific discovery isn't as simple as one good experiment. The weird and wonderful history of cell theory illuminates the twists and turns that came together to build the foundations of biology.
The cell membrane, like a good jacket, protects the cell from everything outside of it. How is it simultaneously sturdy, flexible, and capable of allowing the right things to pass through? Ethan Perlstein rediscovers the scientists and their research that have changed the way we study the membrane and the cell as a whole.
Is personalized medicine for individual bodies in our future? Possibly -- with the use of stem cells, undifferentiated cells with the power to become any tissue in our bodies. Craig A. Kohn describes the role of these incredible, transforming cells and how scientists are harnessing their medical potential.
How do cancer cells grow? How does chemotherapy fight cancer (and cause negative side effects)? The answers lie in cell division. George Zaidan explains how rapid cell division is cancer’s "strength" -- and also its weakness.
A brief introduction to nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Your body is made of cells -- but how does a single cell know to become part of your nose, instead of your toes? The answer is in your body's instruction book: DNA. Joe Hanson compares DNA to detailed manual for building a person out of cells -- with 46 chapters (chromosomes) and hundreds of thousands of pages covering every part of you.
RNA, the genetic messenger, makes sure the DNA recipe gives your cells exactly what they ordered. But sometimes that means inhibiting some other RNA that got the recipe wrong. This process is called RNA interference (RNAi), and it acts as a self-correcting system within the complicated genetic kitchen of your body. Alex Dainis explains the importance -- and exciting potential -- of RNAi.
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Shannon Stiles
- Writer Stephanie Warren
- Director Igor Coric
- Narrator Michelle Snow
