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st sumptuously esoteric lines of inquiry。 in one of his essays； stephen jay gould notes howa hero of his named henry edward crampton spent fifty years； from 1906 to his death in1956； quietly studying a genus of land snails in polynesia called partula。 over and over； yearafter year； crampton measured to the tiniest degree鈥攖o eight decimal places鈥攖he whorls andarcs and gentle curves of numberless partula； piling the results into fastidiously detailedtables。 a single line of text in a crampton table could represent weeks of measurement andcalculation。
only slightly less devoted； and certainly more unexpected； was alfred c。 kinsey； whobecame famous for his studies of human sexuality in the 1940s and 1950s。 but before hismind became filled with sex； so to speak； kinsey was an entomologist； and a dogged one atthat。 in one expedition lasting two years； he hiked 2；500 miles to assemble a collection of300；000 wasps。 how many stings he collected along the way is not； alas； recorded。
something that had been puzzling me was the question of how you assured a chain ofsuccession in these arcane fields。 clearly there cannot be many institutions in the world thatrequire or are prepared to support specialists in barnacles or pacific snails。 as we parted at thenatural history museum in london； i asked richard fortey how science ensures that whenone person goes there鈥檚 someone ready to take his place。
he chuckled rather heartily at my naivet茅。 鈥渋鈥檓 afraid it鈥檚 not as if we have substitutessitting on the bench somewhere waiting to be called in to play。 when a specialist retires or；even more unfortunately； dies； that can bring a stop to things in that field； sometimes for avery long while。鈥�
鈥渁nd i suppose that鈥檚 why you value someone who spends forty…two years studying asingle species of plant； even if it doesn鈥檛 produce anything terribly new？鈥�
鈥減recisely；鈥潯e said； 鈥減recisely。鈥潯nd he really seemed to mean it。
24 CELLS
灏彙…t…xt…澶ｅ爞
it starts with a single cell。 the first cell splits to bee two and the two bee fourand so on。 after just forty…seven doublings； you have ten thousand trillion（10；000；000；000；000；000） cells in your body and are ready to spring forth as a human being。
1and every one of those cells knows exactly what to do to preserve and nurture you from themoment of conception to your last breath。
you have no secrets from your cells。 they know far more about you than you do。 each onecarries a copy of the plete genetic code鈥攖he instruction manual for your body鈥攕o itknows not only how to do its job but every other job in the body。 never in your life will youhave to remind a cell to keep an eye on its adenosine triphosphate levels or to find a place forthe extra squirt of folic acid that鈥檚 just unexpectedly turned up。 it will do that for you； andmillions more things besides。
every cell in nature is a thing of wonder。 even the simplest are far beyond the limits ofhuman ingenuity。 to build the most basic yeast cell； for example； you would have tominiaturize about the same number of ponents as are found in a boeing 777 jetliner andfit them into a sphere just five microns across； then somehow you would have to persuade thatsphere to reproduce。
but yeast cells are as nothing pared with human cells； which are not just more variedand plicated； but vastly more fascinating because of their plex interactions。
your cells are a country of ten thousand trillion citizens； each devoted in some intensivelyspecific way to your overall well…being。 there isn鈥檛 a thing they don鈥檛 do for you。 they letyou feel pleasure and form thoughts。 they enable you to stand and stretch and caper。 whenyou eat； they extract the nutrients； distribute the energy； and carry off the wastes鈥攁ll thosethings you learned about in junior high school biology鈥攂ut they also remember to make youhungry in the first place and reward you with a feeling of well…being afterward so that youwon鈥檛 forget to eat again。 they keep your hair growing； your ears waxed； your brain quietlypurring。 they manage every corner of your being。 they will jump to your defense the instantyou are threatened。 they will unhesitatingly die for you鈥攂illions of them do so daily。 andnot once in all your years have you thanked even one of them。 so let us take a moment now toregard them with the wonder and appreciation they deserve。
we understand a little of how cells do the things they do鈥攈ow they lay down fat ormanufacture insulin or engage in many of the other acts necessary to maintain a plicatedentity like yourself鈥攂ut only a little。 you have at least 200；000 different types of protein1actually； quite a lot of cells are lost in the process of development； so the number you emerge with is reallyjust a guess。 depending on which source you consult the number can vary by several orders of magnitude。 thefigure of ten thousand trillion （or quadrillion） is from margulis and sagan； 1986。
laboring away inside you； and so far we understand what no more than about 2 percent ofthem do。 （others put the figure at more like 50 percent； it depends； apparently； on what youmean by 鈥渦nderstand。鈥潱﹕urprises at the cellular level turn up all the time。 in nature； nitric oxide is a formidabletoxin and a mon ponent of air pollution。 so scientists were naturally a little surprisedwhen； in the mid…1980s； they found it being produced in a curiously devoted manner inhuman cells。 its purpose was at first a mystery； but then scientists began to find it all over theplace鈥攃ontrolling the flow of blood and the energy levels of cells； attacking cancers andother pathogens； regulating the sense of smell； even assisting in penile erections。 it alsoexplained why nitroglycerine； the well…known explosive； soothes the heart pain known asangina。 （it is converted into nitric oxide in the bloodstream； relaxing the muscle linings ofvessels； allowing blood to flow more freely。） in barely the space of a decade this one gassysubstance went from extraneous toxin to ubiquitous elixir。
you possess 鈥渟ome few hundred鈥潯 ifferent types of cell； according to the belgianbiochemist christian de duve； and they vary enormously in size and shape； from nerve cellswhose filaments can stretch to several feet to tiny； disc…shaped red blood cells to the rod…shaped photocells that help to give us vision。 they also e in a sumptuously wide range ofsizes鈥攏owhere more strikingly than at the moment of conception； when a single beatingsperm confronts an egg eighty…five thousand times bigger than it （which rather puts the notionof male conquest into perspective）。 on average； however； a human cell is about twentymicrons wide鈥攖hat is about two hundredths of a millimeter鈥攚hich is too small to be seenbut roomy enough to hold thousands of plicated structures like mitochondria； and millionsupon millions of molecules。 in the most literal way； cells also vary in liveliness。 your skincells are all dead。 it鈥檚 a somewhat galling notion to reflect that every inch of your surface isdeceased。 if you are an average…sized adult you are lugging around about five pounds of deadskin； of which several billion tiny fragments are sloughed off each day。 run a finger along adusty shelf and you are drawing a pattern very largely in old skin。
most living cells seldom last more than a month or so； but there are some notableexceptions。 liver cells can survive for years； though the ponents within them may berenewed every few days。 brain cells last as long as you do。 you are issued a hundred billionor so at birth； and that is all you are ever going to get。 it has been estimated that you lose fivehundred of them an hour； so if you have any serious thinking to do there really isn鈥檛 a momentto waste。 the good news is that the individual ponents of your brain cells are constantlyrenewed so that； as with the liver cells； no part of them is actually likely to be more than abouta month old。 indeed； it has been suggested that there isn鈥檛 a single bit of any of us鈥攏ot somuch as a stray molecule鈥攖hat was part of us nine years ago。 it may not feel like it； but at thecellular level we are all youngsters。
the first person to describe a cell was robert hooke； whom we last encounteredsquabbling with isaac newton over credit for the invention of the inverse square law。 hookeachieved many things in his sixty…eight years鈥攈e was both an acplished theoretician anda dab hand at making ingenious and useful instruments鈥攂ut nothing he did brought himgreater admiration than his popular book microphagia： or some physiological descriptions ofminiature bodies made by magnifying glasses； produced in 1665。 it revealed to an enchantedpublic a universe of the very small that was far more diverse； crowded； and finely structuredthan anyone had ever e close to imagining。
among the microscopic features first identified by hooke were little chambers in plantsthat he called 鈥渃ells鈥潯ecause they reminded him of monks鈥櫋ells。 hooke calculated that aone…inch square of cork would contain 1；259；712；000 of these tiny chambers鈥攖he firstappearance of such a very large number anywhere in science。 microscopes by this time hadbeen around for a generation or so； but what set hooke鈥檚 apart were their technicalsu