ught to go out, and selective transport into the cell of those things that ought to go in. Inside the cell's three-dimensional cytoplasm there are over 20 different chemical reactions going on at any one time, with each cell containing five major systems: (1) communication; (2) waste disposal; (3) nutrition; (4) repair, and; (5) reproduction. The endoplasmic reticulum of the cell serves as a transport system. The ribosomes produce protein, which is then distributed around the body as needed by the Golgi bodies. The mitochondria (over 1,000 per cell) are the "powerhouses" of the cell, producing the energy needed by the body. The nucleus, of course, carries the genetic code in its DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Red blood cells (there are approximately 30 trillion of them) live about 120 days; white blood cells (the blood's defense system) live about 13 days; platelets (which help blood to clot) live about 4 days; nerve cells may live over 100 years. In any given 60-second period, approximately 3 billion cells die and are replaced in the human body through the process we call `mitosis', whereby the standard chromosome number (in the human, 46) is faithfully reproduced. A single cell contains a strip of DNA (placed in the nuc leus in a spiral-staircase configuration) which is about one yard long, and which contains `over 6 billion biochemical steps'. Every cell of the body contains such DNA--over a billion miles total in one human. How powerful is the DNA? It provides, in coded form, `every physical characteristic of every living person'. How many people are there on the face of the earth? There are a few more than 5 billion. It took two cells (a male spermatozoan and a female ovum) to make each one of these people. If there are roughly 5 billion people on the earth, and it took two cells to make each of them, that's approximately 10 billion cells (remember: this is the DNA it took to give every living person every physical characteristic he ...
