Is Your Doctor an Old Crab?

Matthew 6:7-8
“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”  

Plants make cellulose. Cellulose is a type of natural plastic made of many sugar molecules linked together. Scientists have known for years how to use the natural plastic qualities of cellulose to make things like cellophane and rayon.

Scientists have also known that animals generate a similar natural plastic called chitin. Like cellulose, chitin is a carbohydrate made of long chains of sugar molecules. Chitin is found in the shells of all insects and crustaceans, like crabs. Each year the crabmeat industry had thrown away thousands of tons of chitin because scientists couldn’t figure out how to extract chitin from the shells in a usable form.

Finally in 1975 scientists discovered how to remove the chitin from shells and change its form so it could be made into whatever forms they needed. Suture thread made from chitin dissolves in the body. This means that stitches don’t have to be removed, and it can be more easily knotted than regular suture thread. Suture thread made from chitin also causes no allergic reaction, and it seems to promote healing. It’s hard to believe that a crab shell, which is usually thrown away, could do so much! Food processing companies are even using a chemical made from chitin to recover protein from wastewater.

Almost everything in the creation seems to have numerous uses for human needs. This is testimony that the Creator has made this universe for us and that He cares about our needs. In the Bible we learn that He has provided for our greatest need through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that You first loved me even when I had no good thought for You and that You have provided for the forgiveness of my sins through Your Son, Jesus Christ. In His Name. Amen.

 Author: Paul A. Bartz

Ref: Dworetzky, T. 1987. “How an old crab could keep you in stitches.” Discover, Feb. p. 16. Photo: Crab_Pixabay.com

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