Once Upon A Time... Life

The episode starts with the accruement of the universe. We jump all the way up to the birth of our planet earth. Glowing lava comes out of fire-spitting volcanoes into boiling water with thunder and lighting. In this primordial ooze, the very first cell appears - the prototype of all life. A fantastic journey into the inside of a cell guides us to chromosomes and ribosomes, mitochondria and the cell nucleus. We also get to know the main characters who accompany us on this tour through the human body.

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.

The heart - home of our feelings, mood and inner condition? Who knows…? Definitely, it is a central organ, which gives life and sustains life. Due to its untiring work, around 200 liters of blood are being pumped through the cardiovascular system throughout a human being’s life.

Peter and Pierrette go on a jogging tour with two friends in the park. They become acquainted with two pulmonary alveoli who are having a conversation about the young runners. Topic: the breathing. Some dust particles and microbes are lurking around with the aim of getting inside the body with the air that’s breathed in to cause some trouble there. The sentries are already alert though. The nose and also the mouth and throat catch the dust, clean the air and keep everything dangerous outside.

In today’s episode, the old experienced red corpuscle Globus is taking us on a fantastic journey with an exciting destination: the brain. Hemo and Globin can’t wait for this experience. During the trip, they get to know different areas of this extraordinary organ. They find out about the very oldest parts of the brain which we inherited from our ancestors, the reptiles, a long time ago, as well as the newer parts that define us as human beings. Furthermore, we get to see how the brain actually functions.

After having experienced the brain as an organ, today’s episode is about the transmission of the signals: the neurons. Such a neuron is constantly connected to its correspondents. Those superfast messages build up the connection between the brain and the different organs in the body. Thus, they report feelings like hunger, thirst, coldness and warmth, but also wounds, attacks from the outside and tiredness are perceived and communicated, so that the central controlling organ can react.

It’s a beautiful morning and little Peter opens a window. He sees a gorgeous butterfly. Suddenly he realizes that he sees. Why do we recognize forms and colors? How do these pictures get from the eyes to the brain? Why do we cry, when we’re very sad and how come we sometimes even tear up in moments of joy?

There’s no other organ that gives us the feeling of being connected with the outside world so closely like the ear does. Today, Globus takes his friends on a little excursion into the inside of the human ear.

How many clothes and how many pairs of shoes do we need in a lifetime? The skin is some kind of clothing as well, just that we can’t take it off, nor can we buy a new one. The skin must last for the entire life and renews itself constantly. Today, Globus had a special idea for his friends: a trip through the different layers of the skin. Hemo and Globine are astonished when they see how perspiratory glands work for the first time. After that, they meet a certain Mr. Krause, who doesn’t like his own name…

Little Peter and little Pierette come home after playing outside and they are really hungry. There are some parts of the body that are especially important for the process of eating, as for example the teeth, the salivary glands and the taste-buds. A group of malicious germs witnesses the scene and decides to get into the mouth via the nutrition. Their aim: To attack a tooth and dig a dental cavity.

Peter invited his friend Jumbo for dinner. There’s fish, potatoes, salad and some cake for desert. They both enjoy the delicious meal very much. Once the first mouthful is being swallowed, we start a journey and get to see what happens to the food. Digestion starts in the mouth already and is continued in the stomach.

The liver only constitutes around two percent of the total body weight, and still consumes a quarter of all oxygen that we breathe in. It is a highly specialized laboratory inside the human body. The matter that comes from the digestion is being processed here. First, there is the “customs officer” at the entrance to the liver. He decides carefully who gets permission to enter the liver and who doesn’t.

Globus, the old red corpuscle, and his friends find themselves working in a less comfortable part of the body today. They are at the access roads for the liver and the kidneys. That’s where a lot of waste is found as well.

Quite an unknown organ, this lymphatic system with all the branches and nodes and the liquid… This time, our friends, the red corpuscles, don’t accompany us, because they don’t belong here. But Young Peter and his friends undergo another adventure on their trip through this system, whose task it is to transport nutrition in the body.

How come small kids get hurt so much less when they fall than old people do? What’s the difference between a young and an old bone, considering flexibility and fragility? These and some other questions are dealt with in today’s episode.

The muscles constitute about a half of our total body weight. Not only do they appear in our arms, legs and in our breast, but also the heart is a muscle, as well as the walls of our arteries, which consist of muscle texture. Muscles must carry out work and therefore they need energy, which means sugar and fat.

Today, Peter and his friends are meeting for an endurance run in the park. Athletes, that run very much, need to breathe a lot as well, so that enough oxygen is provided for the body. However, when we breathe, it’s not only oxygen that enters the body, but also dust particles, exhaust gas, and some other more or less toxic substances.

Peter and Jumbo are doing the gardening today. They are busy with moving a rosebush. Naturally, they both sting their hands at the thorns and get wounded. After that, they touch the soil that they dug out. That’s a celebration for the malicious germs. They take their chance and invade the body.

Peter and his friend Jumbo are playing tennis. The Master is observing the match from his monitor in the hypothalamus and is giving some instructions. Especially the hormones are sent on their way over and over again with the responsibility of adapting the breathing, the heartbeat and glucose resources to the respective situation. Globus explains to Hemo and Globine the functions of those little runabouts that cross their way every once in a while.

Peter is going for a walk with his grandfather. Meanwhile, the latter explains to Peter that the sun is the source of all life and that if it wasn’t for the sun, our planet earth would be a cold and boring planet and there would be no life. That’s because the sun makes everything grow, as for example grains and fruits and trees, which then produce the oxygen that is vital for us to breathe. Peter learns about the food chain of nature, which means that there is a constant eating and being eaten by other creatures. The only exception is us, human beings, because we aren’t eaten by anyone. We still need food though, for the composition of our bodies, to produce energy and to stay alive. Unfortunately, many people eat way too much, with too much sugar and fat and then there’s trouble with their bodies.

It’s been a hard day and Peter’s quite tired, so it’s no wonder that he’s falling asleep right after dinner. The master attentively observes what’s happening on his monitor in the inside of the body. For him it’s time to rest as well, but he doesn’t even think about a total switching off.

What’s the name of the creature that stands on four legs in the morning, two at noon and three in the evening“? This is what the Sphinx once asked. It’s the human being. In the morning of his life he crawls on all of his four legs. During the main part of his life he walks on two and when he grew old, he needs a walking stick and thus walks on three legs. Why are we getting old? Why are we getting weaker? Why can’t all parts of the body in need of repair be renewed? These and similar questions are dealt with in today’s episode of “Once upon a time … Life”.