Cell Cleanup Crew Biology Game
Chapter 1

The garbage trucks in your cells

Chapter 2

The biology of extreme survival

Chapter 3

The micro-farm inside your gut

Chapter 4

Humans as planetary lifeboats

YOUR GOAL

Master of How your body recycles itself

Ch 1 · The garbage trucks in your cells
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007skaty The biological signals that trigger cellular cleanup.

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007skaty Lysosomes

Lysosomes take in the cellular debris, Using acid to recycle and set the raw parts free.

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To rebuild, we must dismantle and repurpose what we have already built.

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007skaty Lysosomes function as the recycling centers of living cells.

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The triggers that start the cleanup

007skaty Low biological energy prompts the enzyme AMPK to trigger cellular recycling, while the growth regulator mTOR shuts the

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How lysosomes act as recycling plants

007skaty An isometric 3D render shows a labeled glass lysosome shredding chrome cellular waste.

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Cell Cleanup Crew
BETA

007skaty Sort cellular waste into lysosomes to discover how our bodies clean themselves.

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Fun Fact

Cellular self-eating: The word autophagy comes from Greek words meaning 'self-eating,' describing how cells literally digest their own parts to survive.

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Glossary
lysosome (noun)
A cell organelle containing enzymes that digest and recycle waste materials. In 1974, Christian de Duve won a Nobel Prize for discovering lysosomes and their waste disposal role.

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Gossip

Would you try a 24-hour fast to boost your cells?

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Quiz

Which scientist won the 2016 Nobel Prize for discovering the mechanisms of autophagy?

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007skaty Yoshinori Ohsumi studied baker's yeast to unlock the secrets of cells.

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Quiz

How long does a human fast typically need to last to significantly elevate autophagy?

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007skaty Aging brain cells struggle to recycle their own toxic waste

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Quiz

Which neurodegenerative disease is closely linked to the failure of cellular recycling in the brain?

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Quiz

What is the literal translation of the Greek-derived word 'autophagy'?

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Quiz

Which enzyme acts as a sensor to turn on autophagy when cellular energy is low?

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Quiz

In what year did Christian de Duve discover the lysosome, earning him a Nobel Prize later?

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Quiz

What major cellular regulator must be turned off for autophagy to actively begin?

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Quiz

Which cellular organelle acts as the main recycling and waste disposal unit?

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