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12.26

Level II life: the unique universe of individual cells

While we have discussed the nature and function of cells, we have not yet described the level of life in which all cells exist as a fundamental level of Life. We call the first level of cellular life Level 2: Simple mono-cellular Hydro-Carbon Biologics.

12.18.1

All cells belong in some way to the universe of individual cells

A complex organism such as human being is made up of literally trillions of individual cells. While it is natural to consider a human being belonging to a higher order of life, a human nonetheless can also be viewed as an aggregate of these trillions of unique and individual cells.

All life, no matter how complex, begins its journey as a single cell. And all ecosystems, such as the planet Earth, can be viewed as a universe of countless trillions of trillions of individual cells, some aggregated into higher organisms, but most arranged in fairly lose alliances and colonies. On Earth, over 80% of all life is and remains mono cellular during its existence. In other words the universe of Bacteria.

12.18.2

The universe of bacteria

The word Bacteria is the plural of the word Bacterium (Greek bakterion,"little staff"), and stands for any group of microscopic organisms that are prokaryotic, i.e., that lack a membrane-bound nucleus and organelles. Bacteria are unicellular (one-celled) and may have spherical (coccus), rodlike (bacillus), or curved (vibrio, spirillum, or spirochete) bodies. They can be found in nearly all environments-from air, soil, water, and ice to hot springs; even the hydrothermal vents on the deep ocean floor are the home of sulphur-metabolizing bacteria. Certain types are found in nearly all food products, and bacteria also occur in various forms of symbiosis with most plants and animals and other kinds of life. Some bacteria are known to be beneficial to humans and the higher animals, while many others are harmful; bacteria are the chief cause of infectious diseases in humans.

On average, bacteria are about 1 micrometre (0.000039 inch) long and 0.5 micrometre in diameter. All bacteria are surrounded by a lipid membrane that regulates the flow of materials in and out of the cell. A rigid cell wall completely surrounds the bacterium and lies outside the membrane. Gram-positive bacteria are stained blue by the gram stain, because their cell walls have a relatively thick and mesh like structure that traps the dye. In gram-negative bacteria, the cell wall is thin and releases the dye readily when washed with an alcohol solution.

Outside the cell wall, some species of bacteria also have a capsule made up of polysaccharides. Such capsules have many functions, including protecting the bacterium from phagocytes and from desiccation (drying). Many species of bacteria swim by means of flagellae, i.e., hairlike structures whose whip like lashing provides propulsion.The DNA of most bacteria is found in a single circular chromosome and is distributed throughout the cytoplasm rather than in a membrane-bound nucleus. Smaller circular auxiliary DNA strands, called plasmids, are also found in the cytoplasm. A number of other structures are distributed about the bacterial cytoplasm, including ribosomes.

When applied to bacteria, the term growth refers to an increase in the number of bacteria in a population rather than in the size of an individual microorganism. Bacteria usually reproduce through binary fission, an asexual process in which the mother cell increases in size until it divides into two identical daughter cells. There are also bacteria that reproduce through budding, through chains of spores, and through the segmentation of elementary units. Bacteria do not reproduce sexually, but there are several mechanisms by which DNA is exchanged in a one-way transfer between them.

All bacteria require carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, inorganic salts, and micro nutrients. Bacteria that use an organic compound as their source of carbon are called heterotrophs, while those that use an inorganic source are called autotrophs. In addition, some bacteria use photosynthesis to generate energy in the form of the compound ATP; these are called phototrophs. Some species of bacteria are parasitic and can grow only within a living host cell; examples include the genera Rickettsia and Chlamydia, both of which are parasites in eukaryotic cells. Those bacteria that require oxygen, such as Bacillus, are called aerobes; anaerobes, such as Clostridium, cannot survive in the presence of oxygen.

Various types of bacteria that are present in water can cause disease in humans, and water-purification plants are designed to destroy these microorganisms. Bacteria from industrial wastes may also act as pathogens, or agents of disease. Conversely, some types of bacteria act as cleansing agents in water, and water-treatment facilities utilize some such bacteria to break down the organic matter that is present in sewage.

12.18.3

The structure of the universe of bacteria

There has been greater debate and discussion in recent years as to the exact classification of bacteria. Some scientists have matched bacteria based on their shape, others by their breathing ability, others by their structure. In all, it it is difficult to find a definitive definition to the structure of the most fundamental level of matter. It is for this reason that a formula is applied to structure Bacteria by what we know and understand through UCA.

Level 2 Simple mono-cellular Hydro-Carbon Biologics

*Primordial mono cellular creators*
Bacteria and cynobacteria (which are also called prokaryotic cells)
*Primordial mono cellular destructive attractors*
Viruses
Nucleic Acids
*Advanced mono cellular creators (Protozoa- Sacodina, Ciliata)*
Sarcodina- Amoeba, Actinophrys, Diffulgia, Textularia
Ciliata- Paramecium, Coleps, Vorticella, Stentor
*Advanced mono cellular destructive attractors (Protozoa- Mastigophora)*
Euglenids, Trypanosoma, Trichomonas, Codosiga

12.18.4

Introduction to the concept of THE CORPUS

As we stated earlier, mono cellular life makes up approximately 80% of all life on the planet Earth. In times of great planetary environmental hardship, this percentage would certainly be higher.

Yet in human terms, our perspective is influenced by the philosophy of the human being at the centre, or top of the tree of life, the concept of the Great Chain of Being. This mind set has been in place for at least the last 2,000 years, encouraging us to conceive ourselves as separate to the vast mass of life- mono cellular life and small multi-celled life (fungi, algae).

It is no wonder then, that our medical history in co-existing healthily with bacteria is fraught with bitter disappointment and fear. We consider bacteria as the enemy, we consider bacteria a nuisance in our world, not the other way around. It is us, the human race that are members of the bacterial world.

Testimony to the lack of existence of this perspective in science is the lack of a proper label to describe the interconnected world of bacteria that encompasses the entire surface of the planet Earth. Therefore, in the context of UCA, we have breathed life into a word at least 2000 years old- the word Corpus.

Corpus comes from Latin and means "many parts, or people coming together to form a whole." Later, an additional concept was added to imply the forming of a commercial relationship- a corporation.

In the context of the universe of Bacteria on the planet EARTH- we define CORPUS as the sum total of life in the context of the bacterial world. It is the complete cellular world of the planet in recognition of many trillions of cells coming together to form one living cellular entity.

In the context of all cellular life on planet Earth, we put in context all life as a proportion of a greater universe of cells ( as the diagram above shows). We hope that in this way, readers may gain a greater appreciation of life and the context of life on Earth.

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