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PART II
Defence System
As acknowledged, defence is an issue that has
to be given top priority by a country for the continuance of its
existence. Nations have always to watch out for all kinds of internal
and external threats, assaults, risks of wars and terrorist actions.
This is why they allocate a great part of their official budgets
to defence. Armies are provided with the most advanced aircraft,
ships, and arms, and the forces of defence are always kept at the
highest level of preparedness.
The human body is surrounded by
a great number of enemies and threats. These enemies are bacteria,
viruses, and similar microscopic organisms. They exist everywhere;
in the air we inhale, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the
environment in which we live.
What most people are not aware of
is that the human body has an excellent army, the immune system,
which fights against enemies. This is a real army made up of many
"soldiers" and "officials" with different assignments, who are specially
trained, employ high technology and fight with conventional and
chemical weapons.
Every day, even every minute, a
permanent war is fought between this army and the enemy forces,
but away from our knowledge. This war can also be in the form of
minor, local skirmishes as well as battles in which the whole body
is involved and alarmed. We call these battles "diseases".
The general conduct of this war
almost never changes. The enemy attempts to fool the other side
by camouflaging itself when intruding into the body. The trained
investigative forces are assigned by the defence to identify the
enemies. The enemies are identified and appropriate weapons are
produced to exterminate them. Then there is close contact, the defeat
of the enemy, cease-fire, and clearance of the battleground. Last,
there is storage of every type of information about the enemy as
a precaution against the possibility of a later attack....
Now let us examine this interesting
war closer.
The besieged castle: The human body

The front defence line of the body is the skin. When
a cut or wound is inflicted on the skin, it means that the
body is in danger. Viruses and bacteria can easily make
their way through. When such a wound is inflicted, "virus-
and bacteria-hostile" cells called "phagocytes", rush to
the afflicted spot and try to swallow the micro-organisms
that intrude into the body. On the other hand, the wound
on the skin has long since started to receive treatment
to prevent further foreign materials from entering the body.
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We can liken the human body to a castle besieged
by enemies. The enemies look for various ways to invade this castle.
The human skin is the wall of this castle.
The substance of keratin in the
cells of the skin is an impassable barrier for bacteria and fungi.
Foreign substances that reach the skin cannot pass through this
wall. Moreover, although the outer layer of skin that contains keratin
is continuously rubbed off, it is renewed by skin growing from beneath.
Thus, all unwanted guests that have squeezed between the skin are
ejected from the body together with dead skin, during renewal of
the skin from inwards to outwards. The enemy can only make its way
in through a wound that is inflicted on the skin.
The front line
One of the ways through which viruses
enter the body is air. The enemy pushes its way to the body through
the air inhaled. However, a special secretion in the nasal mucous
membrane and cell-swallowing defence elements in the lungs (phagocytes)
meet these enemies and take control of the situation before the
danger grows. Digestive enzymes in the stomach acid and small intestine
eliminate a great number of the microbes that seek to enter the
body through food.
The clash of the enemies
There are some microbes that have settled in various
parts of the human body (such as skin, skin folds, mouth, nose,
eye, upper respiratory canals, digestive canal, the genitals) yet
do not cause illness.
When a foreign microbe enters the
body, these domestic microbes - thinking that their habitation would
be invaded- and not wishing to give way to the foreigners who invade
their habitation - fight strenuously. We can define them as professional
soldiers. They try to protect their territory for their own ends.
Thus, the complex army in our body is reinforced by these micro
supports.
"THE
CELL INVASION" OPERATION OF THE VIRUS
1. Virus contacts the cell it approaches and adheres to its
surface. (It is seen on a bacteria cell in the scheme).
2. The virus discharges a special enzyme
at the point of contact that will help melt the membrane
of the cell it approaches. Because of this action, a hole
forms in the cell wall. The virus pulls back its tail and,
by shrinking, it injects the nucleic acid in its body (DNA
or RNA) into the cell.
3. The nucleic acid of the virus that
enters in the cell takes it under control. The vital functions
of the cell stop. The nucleic acid of the virus self-replicates
by using the resources of the cell.
4. The newly formed parts of the virus
come together and form new viruses.
5. When sufficient viruses are formed,
the cell bursts and developed viruses swing into action
to find new host cells. The time from the virus’ intrusion
into a cell to the end of its reproduction is around 20-25
minutes. At the end of each replication, 200-300 new viruses
are formed in a host cell.
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Step by step to hot water
If a microscopic intruder entering the body can
overcome defence elements on guard and bacteria serving as soldiers,
it causes war to begin with. After that, the body, with its ordered
army, fights a perfect offence-defence war against this foreign
army.
The war fought by the defence system
is comprised of four parts:
1. Identification of the enemy.
2. The fortification of defences
and the preparation of offensive weapons.
3. Attack and battle.
4. Retreat to normal state.
 
Macrophages are those elements of the immune system that
fight at the front. They engulf and digest all kinds of
foreign substances in the blood. Their other task is to
call the T cells for help wherever they meet the enemy.
in the photograp on the top, a macrophage is seen trying
to catch a bacterium with its extensions. In the photograph
above, the macrophage is trying to engulf a lipid molecule
that has entered the body.
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The cells that first meet the enemy
units are macrophage cells that make "phagocytosis", i.e., that
engulf the enemy. These cells are involved in close contact with
the enemy, and fight a hand-to-hand war. They are just like infantrymen
who fight a bayonet war against enemy units and struggle at the
distant front line of the army.
Moreover, macrophages function as
intelligence units, or as the secret service of an army. They hold
one portion of the enemy they destroy. This portion is used to identify
the enemy’s identity and to determine its features. Macrophages
pass this portion to another intelligence unit, messenger-T cells.
General Alarm
When a country is involved in
war, a general mobilisation is declared. Most of the natural resources
and the budget are spent on war expenses. The economy is re-arranged
according to this extraordinary situation and the country is involved
in total action. In a war, which the defensive army of the body
will fight as a whole, mobilisation is also declared. Do you wonder
how?
If the enemy is more than they can
handle, the cavalcades (macrophages) that launch an attack secrete
a special substance. The name of this substance is "pyrogen" and
it is a kind of alarm call. After travelling a long way, "pyrogen"
reaches the brain and stimulates the fever-increasing centre of
the brain. Following this stimulation, the brain sets off alarms
in the body and the person develops a high fever. The patient with
a high fever naturally feels a need to rest. Thus, the energy needed
by the defence army is not spent elsewhere. As seen, there exists
an extremely complex plan and design at work.
The ordered army swings into
action
The war between the microscopic
intruder and the immune system becomes more complicated after mobilisation,
that is, your falling ill in bed. At this stage, infantrymen (phagocytes)
and cavalrymen (macrophages) have proved insufficient, the whole
body is alarmed, and the war becomes heated. At this stage, lymphocytes
- (T and B cells) - intervene.
Cavalrymen (macrophages) pass the
information they have on the enemy to T helper cells. These cells
summon T cytotoxic and B cells to the battleground. These are the
most effective fighters of the immune system.
Weaponry production
As soon as B cells receive information
about the enemy, they start producing weapons. These weapons, just
like ballistic missiles, are only produced to hit the enemy on whom
information is available. This production is so perfect that the
three dimensional structure of the microscopic intruder and the
three dimensional structure of the weapon fully match each other.
This accord is like that between a key and its lock.
Antibodies advance towards the enemy
and clamp tightly on it. After this stage, the enemy is neutralised
like a tank that has its treads, cannon and gun destroyed. Afterwards,
other members of the immune system come and eliminate the neutralised
enemy.
Here, there is a very important
point to consider: there are millions of types of enemy that the
immune system will confront. B cells can produce an appropriate
weapon for all types of enemy no matter what they are. This means
that the immune system innately has the knowledge and capability
to produce the keys appropriate to millions of different types of
locks. These unconscious cells have the ability to make millions
of types of antibodies, and their using it in the best way proves
the existence of a creation by the Owner of an exalted power.
Furthermore, the system is more
sophisticated. As B cells destroy the enemy with ballistic weapons,
T cytotoxic cells also fight a tough war against the enemy. When
some viruses enter a cell, they can hide from the weapons produced
by the B cells. The T cytotoxic cells find the diseased cells in
which this camouflaged enemy hides and destroy them.
After the victory
After the enemy is defeated, the
T suppressor cells swing into action. These cells give the army
of defence the command to cease fire, and cause the T cytotoxic
and B cells to stop their activities. Thus, the body does not carry
on in a state of mobilisation in vain. After the war is over, most
of the T and B cells produced specifically for the war complete
their lifecycle and die. This tough war, however, is not to be forgotten.
Before the war, a short time passed while the enemy was identified
and the necessary preparations made. If the enemy ever comes back,
the body will be much better prepared. A group of memory cells,
which have come to know the features of the enemy, will constantly
serve in the immune system in future. In a possible second attack,
the immune system, with the information in the memory cells, will
have the means to react before the enemy gains force. The reason
why we do not catch mumps or measles again, after we have once caught
them, is because of the memory of our immune system.
Who is he who creates the
system?
After all the information we have
examined, we have to take our time and think about how this perfect
immune system to which we owe our lives has come to exist. There
is a flawless plan at work. Everything needed for the operation
of this plan is intact: macrophages, the pyrogen substance, the
fever raising centre of the brain, the body’s fever raising mechanisms,
B cells, T cells, weapons... How, then, has this perfect system
come into being?
Not surprisingly, the theory of
evolution, which proposes that living beings have come into being
by coincidence, cannot explain how this complex system came about.
The claim of the theory of evolution is that living beings and living
systems have originated step-by-step by the accumulation of little
coincidences. However, the immune system cannot by any means have
originated "step-by-step". The reason is that in the case of the
absence or malfunction of even one of the factors that make up the
system, the system cannot work and the person could not survive.
The system must have come into being completely and flawlessly with
all its components intact. This reality renders the notion of "coincidence"
meaningless.
Who, then, makes this plan? Who
knows that the body’s fever must rise, and that only that way the
energy needed by the army of defence will not be spent elsewhere?
Is it the macrophages? Macrophages are merely tiny cells. They do
not have the capacity to think. They are living organisms that obey
an established superior order and that fulfil their duties.
Is it man? Certainly not. People
are not even aware that such a perfect system is at work in their
own bodies. However, this system, of which we are unaware, protects
us from certain death.
It is obvious that the one who created the immune system, and who
created the whole human body, should be a Creator Who has exalted
knowledge and might. This Creator is Allah, Who has created the
human body from a "drop of fluid".
O mankind! You are the poor in need
of Allah whereas Allah is the Rich beyond need, the Praiseworthy.
(Surah Fatir: 15)
THE
VIRUS
The virus, a genetic data package, is dependent on the environment
to be activated. It has to use the mechanisms of a host cell
in order to reproduce. |
THE
MACROPHAGE
It is a watchman and the defence cell in the front line. It
engulfs and digests all kinds of foreign materials in the blood.
When it runs into a microscopic intruder, it summons up T helper
cells to the site of action. |
THE
T HELPER CELL
It is the administrator of the immune system. After identifying
the enemy, it goes to the spleen and lymphatic glands and warns
other cells to fight against the agent of disease. |
T
CYTOTOXIC CELLS
Warned by the T helper cell, these cells destroy the cells that
are occupied by foreign materials and cancer cells. |
THE
B CELL
These cells, considered as biological weapon factories, are
found in the spleen and the lymphatic glands. When warned by
T helper cells, they produce strong chemical weapons named antibodies.
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ANTIBODIES
This protein in the shape of a "Y" sticks onto the disease agent,
renders it ineffective and turns it into a target for killer
cells. |
THE
T SUPPRESSOR CELLS
This third type of the T cells slows the activities of the T
and B cells or stops them. It ends the assault after the illness
has been overcome. |
THE
MEMORY CELL
This defence cell is formed after the first disease is over.
By remaining in the body for years, it ensures that the immunity
mechanism is activated very rapidly and effectively when the
body meets an agent of the same disease again.
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1
THE WAR BEGINS
As viruses start to
invade the body, some will be captured by the antigens with
the assistance of the macrophages and subsequently destroyed.
Some of millions of T helper cells travelling in the circulatory
system have the ability to "read" this specific antigen. These
particular T cells become active when they bind to the macrophages.
2. FORCES MULTIPLY
Once activated, helper T cells begin to multiply. They then
warn the killer T cells and B cells, which are few in number
and sensitive to the enemy virus, to multiply. When the number
of B cells increases, the helper T cells send them a type
of signal to initiate the manufacturing of antibodies.
3. DEFEATING THE
INFECTION
At this point, some viruses have successfully penetrated the
cells. The only place where viruses can multiply is in the
body cells. With the chemical materials they secrete, killer
T cells cause the death of these cells by drilling through
their membranes, and removing the elements inside. Thus they
prevent the virus in the cell from reproducing. By holding
directly on to the surface of the virus, antibodies inactivate
them and prevent them from invading other cells. In conclusion,
cells that are infected are destroyed with the aid of chemical
substances, which were prepared prior to the attack.
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4. AFTER
THE WAR
After the battle is won, and the disease has been eradicated,
suppressor T cells stop the whole offensive system. Memory T
and B cells remain in the blood and lymphatic system in order
to become immediately activated in case a virus of the same
type is met. |
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