Human body and Theseus paradox

Human body: collection of organisms we are !!

viruses hid in chromosome, cyanobacteria lie inside the cytoplasm  of every cell

and

cells often behaving as free organism.  

Like the Theseus's paradox, which most notably recorded by Plutarch in Life of Theseus from the late 1st century, that raises the question of whether an object which has had all its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object; human body too faces an identity crisis when we consider the facts that viruses hid in chromosome, cyanobacteria lie in cytoplasm and our cell often behaving as free organism. 

pic courtesy: http://prestidigitator420.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/the-theseus-paradox/

Human body

(human body)

Every part of the body is composed of various types of cell. At maturity, the estimated number of cells in the body is given as 37.2 trillion.

Image of two facing pages of text, 

also including woodcuts of naked 

"Adam" and "Eve" figures. "Epitome",

 fol. 10b and 11a. HMD Collection, 

WZ 240 V575dhZ 1543.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_body

The composition of the human body shows it to be composed of a number of certain elements in different proportions.

The main elements that compose the human body 

are shown from most abundant to least abundant.

pic courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_body

Viruses, Cyanobacteria, Protozoan are still lie hidden in each cell of ours

And this body to which we owe to our many predecessors (protozoan to mammalian) 

in our millions of year's evolutionary journey, 

is still riddled with those ancestors of ours; 

as viruses hid in chromosome and cyanobacteria lie in cytoplasm.

pic courtesy: http://health.india.com

Sometimes the one single individual cell, out of it's trillion more fellows....

just forgets the "covenant of common co-existence in a multicellular body"  

(Multicellularity is the ultimate in cooperation,  

Multiple cells make up an individual that cooperates for the benefit of the whole. 

Sometimes cells give up their ability to reproduce for the benefit of close kin), 

and behaves uncontrollably of complex human body, destroying the whole system,

causing in death of that individual being.

100,000 viruses hid in human genes (endogenous retroviruses)

(viruse in human genome)

(viruses are cellular organisms)

About eight percent of human genetic material comes from a virus and not from our ancestors, according to a new study. The research shows that the genomes of humans and other mammals contain DNA derived from the insertion of bornaviruses, RNA viruses whose replication and transcription takes place in the nucleus.

It also makes me wonder who is really in charge of this body of mine — me or the viruses that inhabit it? Do I have free will or am I behaving the way my viruses want me to? It’s starting to feel like viruses are calling all the shots when you get down to the bottom of things. There’s a science fiction movie script here for someone.(Judy/May14,2013/NatGeo)
That collection of organisms that is you is most likely guided by “cooperative viruses” rather than selfish genes free will – not a chance.(Don Byrd/May15,2013/NatgGeo)

An archaic ancestor (prokaryotic cyanobean symbiont) resides in our cell, a case of organisms within organisms

(mitochondria:a symbiont cyanobacteria)

(chloroplast:a symbiont cyanobacteria)

Parasites that do not debilitate their host can get along indefinitely.  But the relationship that works the best is that of symbiont.  Bacteria have been at it for literally billions of years.  At some point prokaryotic cells found a comfortable shelter inside larger cells, and lent their particular expertise to their host’s success.  

The chloroplasts within the cells of leaves have their own distinct DNA.  They do the photosynthesizing to provide the abundant supply of energy that the plants enjoy.  

Within animal cells, mitochondria do something similar, in that they are small powerhouses providing benefit to the cell.  They, too, show evidence of their colonial past in their distinct DNA.Organisms within organisms, providing mutual benefit, the recipe for long-term evolutionary success.  

Role of one cell in multicellular organization

(cell and multicellularity)  

“Multicellularity is the ultimate in cooperation,” said Travisano, who wants to understand how cooperation emerges in selfishly competing organisms. “Multiple cells make up an individual that cooperates for the benefit of the whole. Sometimes cells give up their ability to reproduce for the benefit of close kin.”

When a cell starts behaving as free individual organism, in a multicellular body 

(cancer cell)

Cell is a structural and functional unit of life, that we all know from our high school classes..

Cell specializing in to tissue, tissue system, organ, organ system;  that is the pattern we find in simple to complex evolutionary pattern in all life forms.

Amoeba always reminds us the hidden potentiality of a cell..where many functions like growth and reproduction been discarded  for the sake of ultimate cooperation of multicellularity. 

When a cell in our body rebels to cooperate, go on dividing and growing by itself, defying natural process of cell death called apoptosis, that becomes cancerous..(cancer cell)

Cell is still a mystery.. As and when it behaves of it's own, as selfishly competing organism in itself, for the reasons unknown..!!

# all above pics thankfully shared from different sources on Internet.