Do you know about the T cells production and maturation?
In a nutshell, T cells are a part of our immune system; they hold a profoundly important role in it.
I'm not going to talk about pure Immunology, for I lack the knowledge of it. It's not my area of expertise - not that I'm an expert at anything, though. But I'm currently taking the Immunology class at college. When I was studying for mid-exam, I learned something that made me think about how some processes occurring in our immune system resemble some processes of our life in general. I hope this won't be as tedious as you might think hehe.
It begins with the stem cells that are produced in the bone marrow. Long story short, those stem cells will differentiate to become either B cells or T cells. The interesting part is that in the maturation process of T cells, they undergo something that can be called as an "education." Seriously, even the tiny, tiny parts of our body undergo education too! In fact, they experience not only education but also selection. If you're curious about what kind of education and selection that T cells undergo, keep reading. If you're not, I suggest that you keep reading anyway, because it won't hurt.
The T cells are educated to know with which molecules they should bind. A mature, properly working T cell only binds to self-MHC molecules and foreign antigens. (Antigen is any molecule that can interact with the components of the immune system, that may cause the immune system to respond or react. MHC is a cell protein that's important for T cell-related immune response.) T cells are 'educated' that they must only recognise self-MHC molecules and foreign antigens, and bind with them, NOT with self-antigens. No, Sir. Then, the selection begins. Any T cell that strongly binds with a self-antigen will ... die. (This cell death is called apoptosis.) Gone is the chance of becoming a mature, properly functional T cell.
"But Vira, what's the correlation between these T cell thingy and the so-called intricacy of our life? Where's the human nature of it?"
Wait for a while, people! I'm still thinking about it myself! Kidding. I have an idea, I just struggle to expand that idea to be something interesting and understandable, something that makes sense, something that's ... well, longer than just an idea.
(Please ignore this paragraph.)
But the correlation is already implied, my friends! Read between the lines. In fact, I've said it. Unclear as it is, but I've said it.
We're all aware that we humans undergo education and selection just like some of the minuscule parts of our body - I'm referring to the T cells. It's saying something. It's saying that education is indeed important for us human beings.
Why?
Because ...
Tell me again, what will happen when T cells' education fails? What will happen when they fail to bind only to foreign antigens or self-MHC molecules, and they bind with self-antigens instead? Here's the clue: A ... s.
Apoptosis.
Die. They'll die. Poor T cells.
T cells' failure in education brings annihilation upon themselves. Our failure in our learning process could cause the same thing, though not in the literal sense.
In this life, selection is all around us. When we want to get into a school or a university, there are tests specifically designed to sort out the applicants. When we want to get a job, there are interviews and stuff. They're all selections that are designed to select only the applicants who meet the requirements needed by the institution.
If we fail to educate ourselves, we might not be competent enough to pass a certain selection. And if it's a selection of paramount importance, our failure might be a contributing factor to our figurative destruction. Say we want to get a job or create a job, but we can't because we lack both the knowledge and the experience - which we could get from the learning process - pertaining to the job, then we do nothing, our life becomes miserable, and a miserable life silently destroys us. Or you know, something like that hehe.
So, you see it now?
We're all alike, T cells and us!
Don't you find it wondrous? The fact that Allah makes even the minuscule parts of our body similar to ourselves amazes me. The fact that even the cells and the system in our body seem as if they possess something like human nature - which is the need to learn - is wonderful. The fact that a system inside our body is similar to a bigger system in our general life is just one of so many Allah's gifts for us to be grateful for.
So when we find ourselves too lazy to study, remember that our need to learn is a basic human nature that we must not (and can't) run from. Meanwhile, the selection that follows it is a part of a more complex system which we can't avoid. The learning process and the selection are inevitable, even our little T cells experience those too.
Be like the already mature T cells! They had learnt correctly, had passed the selection, and as a result, they became properly functional cells of our acquired immunity; they're able to defend our body from various attacks of the antigens. In our case though, the result would be us being properly functional members of the society.
