Once Upon a Time... Life

'Once upon a time Life' takes the old and the young on a journey to the centre of the wonderful world that is the human body. The wise maestro acquaints us with the structure and function of the organs of our metabolism.

„Two people love each other very much and start cuddling and suddenly…“ Now we go on tour with an entire armada of seminal filaments, and they all got only one goal: to be the first to reach the egg cell and to fertilize it. Only one of them will be the winner, and hence we experience the miracle of a new life.

Today we learn about the sentries of the body, or more precisely, the white corpuscles. The story’s set in the thymus school, where Colonel Peter is giving a lecture for a young lymphocyte class. Thereby, he explains the importance of knowing the body’s enemies: bacteria, viruses, dust particles and toxins. Colonel Peter introduces the defense unit of the body: Scout Peter and companion Pierrette, who watch for intruders and policeman Jumbo, who directly fights the enemies, and many other important people.

Today we learn about the content of our bones, which is called bone marrow. The main part of red and white corpuscles and the platelets are being produced here. Young Pierrette doesn’t feel so well one day and that’s when she realizes how important those blood components are. The doctor informs her mother, after he examined her: it is leukemia, a serious blood disease caused by the rebellion of white corpuscles. What next!? First, the rebels must be destroyed, but the other elements of the blood will also be affected. Then, with the help of young Peter Junior, a bone-marrow transplant will have to be carried out.

Today we go on a long journey through the blood-circle. The task of the blood corpuscles is to transport oxygen to the cells and take the waste, carbon dioxide, to the lungs. We get to know our friends Hemo, who dreams of pure oxygen, the slim Globine, who helps him, and the wise Master Globus, who gives them advice and tells them to be aware of intruders and strangers to the human body.

Every single day, our bone marrow produces up to 400 billion platelets. Why do we need them though? To find out, we will accompany a group of platelets on their way through the circulation. They take care that the blood stays liquid. There’s big danger when a threatening congestion in a blood vessel is discovered.