Tuesday 24 April 2012

Idea

One of my ideas is to do a stylized animation for audience between 10 and 16 years old about cell death. The animation would present apoptosis; the last division of a cell, it's telomeres too short to divide anymore and other one near it would be faulty.Then they would separate themselves from the healthy cells and begin the process of controlled death (apoptosis), they would shrink, fall apart into smaller pieces, destroy their own DNA and nucleus. Then the entire cell would disintegrate and any remaining cleaned up.

Research on cell death:

„Apoptosis is so carefully planned out that it is often called programmed cell death. During apoptosis, the cell shrinks and pulls away from its neighbors. Then, the surface of the cell appears to boil, with fragments breaking away and escaping like bubbles from a pot of boiling water. The DNA in the nucleus condenses and breaks into regular-sized fragments, and soon the nucleus itself, followed by the entire cell, disintegrates. A cellular cleanup crew rapidly mops up the remains.”
„There is another kind of cell death, called necrosis, that is unplanned. Necrosis can result from a sudden traumatic injury, infection, or exposure to a toxic chemical. During necrosis, the cell's outer membrane loses its ability to control the flow of liquid into and out of the cell. The cell swells up and eventually bursts, releasing its contents into the surrounding tissue. A cleanup crew composed of immune cells then moves in and mops up the mess, but the chemicals the cells use cause the area to become inflamed and sensitive. Think of the redness and pain in your finger after you accidentally touch a hot stove.”
„During an infection, apoptosis can serve a protective function by killing off virus-contaminated cells before they spill over with virus particles. This act of self-sacrifice hampers the spread of infection and can save the whole organism. Normally, immune cells recognize virally infected cells and release alarm chemicals that stick to receptors on the infected cell surface, triggering apoptosis.”
„Normally, an oxygen molecule (O2) absorbs four electrons and is eventually safely converted into water. But if an oxygen molecule only takes up one or two electrons, the result is one of a group of highly unstable molecules called reactive oxygen species that can damage many kinds of biological molecules by stealing their electrons. These renegade oxygen-containing species can mutate your genes, damage the lipids that make up your cellular membranes, and break the proteins that do much of the cell's work, thereby causing cellular injury in multiple and overlapping ways.”

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