- Series:God’s Design, Transcript English
Leviticus 17:11
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
You may want to be sitting down as you listen to today’s broadcast. Why? Because scientists tell us there are far more bacterial cells in your body than actual human cells. According to researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, an average adult weighing 155 pounds consists of about 40 trillion bacteria and only 30 trillion human cells.
This estimate could be off by as much as 25 percent, the researchers admit. The actual number of bacteria could be as high as 50 trillion. Nobody knows for sure because no one has ever counted them. Previously, scientists guesstimated that bacteria could outnumber human cells by ten to one or even a hundred to one. In a 2014 issue of Microbe magazine, molecular biologist Judah Rosner called the ten-to-one ratio a “fake fact”, saying “everybody likes a nice, round number.”
Now, when you consider that viruses, fungi and other microbes far outnumber the bacteria in your body, you might start feeling that there’s very little of “you” left! But remember these two things. Human cells have a lot more mass than bacteria. And 85 percent of your human cells are red blood cells – the very same kind of cells the Son of God shed on the cross to rescue you from the penalty of sin.
And that is most definitely not a fake fact!
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to lay down His life as a sacrifice so I can look forward to eternal life with You! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Notes:
T. H. Saey, “Human Body Not Overrun by Bacteria,” Science News, 2/6/16, p. 6. Photo: Artist’s representation of bacteria. (PD)
