I see G od through a microscope. I don’t really, but see His handprints in the infinitely small and complex world of the human cell. It may not be as awesome as the grandeur of the far-flung heavens but it is as won- drously fantastic! Cells are the smallest units found in every tissue of the body. They are too small to be seen with the naked eye— the power of a microscope is necessary to make them visible. Cells are living units. They are the basic units of every body structure, the units of every body function. Cells are also units of every stage of devel opment of the body and of every in herited trait. When conception takes place a new life is created by the fusion of two reproductive cells into one. Follow ing this union the fertilized egg divides into numerous cells which provide the building units for the future organism. The newly formed cells arrange themselves into three layers and these layers then begin the building of the body and its organs. From conception to birth the number of cells increases to a staggering figure of 200 billion— or 100 times as many cells as the number of peo ple in the whole world! Each cell is alive. It is because its cells are alive that the body itself is alive. Cells are the building blocks out of which life itself is made. Behind these building blocks is a builder— that builder is the Author of life. And because God is the author of life l can see Him whenever l peer through the microscope to study the complexities of the cell. Normally, cells are examined after they have been specially prepared, stained and mounted on slides which are easily placed under the lenses of the microscope. There are, however, special methods to keep cells alive, growing and reproducing in test tubes. These methods provide the scientist with materials for the study of living cells. An excellent example is the surgical removal of the tiny beating heart from an unhatched chick and its subsequent growth out side the chick. By surgical procedures this minute, rhythmically pulsating heart is cut i n t o numerous small fragments. Amazingly each of these fragments can be kept alive, beating and grow ing if it is supplied with the neces sary cellular nutrients and proper en vironment. As the days and weeks go by the new cells that are produced can be studied alive under micro scope. The original pieces of heart tissue keep up their rhythmic move ment, and as the new cells cling to
cally in a living piece of intestine taken from an unhatched chick. Each cell contracts slowly, rhythmically and smoothly and then relaxes as the impulse is passed down to other cells. Science cannot fully explain the workings of the ciliated epithelia, nor the peristaltic movement of the in testine. Nor can the scientist explain how the first heart throb starts in the unborn baby. This beginning is as tounding since nerves do not reach the heart until several weeks after the beating commences! But l sense God’s over-ruling control in it all. I see God through a microscope. There is in the body a reserve batallion of cells to meet emergencies. As soon as the surgeon makes a cut with the scalpel the cells get ready to go into action. And as soon as the incision is sewed up these mending cells move out from both sides and form a bridge to close the gap. Im mediately more cells are produced and they too are mobilized. The itch ing sensation that sometimes is felt in a healing scar is partly due to the great activity of these fibrocytes or mending cells. It is fascinating to watch these cells in action under the microscope. The blood stream is the main high way by which life-giving oxygen and foodstuffs are transported to the brain, the heart, the muscles . . . to every cell in the body. The blood also has its own police force. When harm ful bacteria start an infection the white blood cells move quickly to meet and devour the invaders. Im mediately an alarm system is set off and more white blood cells come to wage battle with the culprits. There are casualties on both sides, but more often the blood cells are the victors. The mending cells and the alarm system and police force of the white cells show me God’s magnificent planning to help the body ward off infection. Each cell is a living unit. Each cell performs its own metabolism. Each cell has a specific duty. Yet all the cells of the body together share in the all encompassing work of keep ing it alive and functioning properly. The Master Builder must have known what He was doing when He formed man and breathed into him . . . and man became a living soul! (cf. Genesis 2:7). “ When l consider . . . the work of thy fingers . . . what is man that thou art mindful of him . . . ? ” (Psalm 8:3-4). 1 never cease to won der! I see God’s handprints in the infinitely small and complex world of human cells. 1 see God through a microscope!
I See God Through a Microscope them they too seem to expand and contract. / see God’s work in the tiny beating hearts trying desperately to cling to life even though they have been tom into little pieces. The respiratory tract—the passages leading to the lungs—are lined with two specialized kinds of cells: some manufacture a sticky fluid; others are covered with tiny hairs. Mucus, the sticky fluid, traps dust and harmful bacteria, and the hairs sweep it away towards the throat from where it can be coughed out or sneezed. It is pos sible to keep alive the hairy cells— or ciliated epithelia as they are called in scientific terms— and to observe them through the microscope. Their sweeping motion is like a powerful though gentle wave moving across, or like a wind-swept field of grain. The small intestine also has a wavy or peristaltic motion which pushes digested food onward. This mechan ism too can be observed microscopi- by Alicia C. Hoogasian
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FEBRUARY, 1961
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