Rod+Cells+-+HG

=Introduction = Suppose your are walking across the crosswalk at night after a party, and there are no cars. Out of the corner of your eye you see a light coming closer and closer to you. At that moment you run to the other side as quick as possible avoiding the car coming by. **Rod cells** are the cells that made you able to see the light out of the corner of your eye, without rod cells you wouldn't have been able to see the light or anything around you in the dark, leaving you clueless about the car that was coming. toc =What is the Function of the Rod Cells? = Have you ever wondered how we can see in the dark, and not get blinded by light? Probably not, but it’s actually pretty interesting. In your eyes, there are two different types of cells that enable you to see, rod cells and **cone cells**. The cells that enable you to see in the dark are the rod cells. Rod cells let the appropriate amount of light come into your eyes in the dark or light. When your eyes go through this process, they are dilating. I believe that the rod cells are more important than cone cells because if humans didn't have cones, we wouldn’t be able to see colors, but if humans didn't have rods, we wouldn't be able to see in the dark at all, and in the light it would be extremely bright and you would only be able to make out colors, and wouldn't be able to see anything white, black, and grey.

=How Can Rod Cells Help us in Everyday Life? = Rod cells help us in everyday life, from walking outside in the morning or afternoon, to going to bed at night, rod cells are always helping us see more efficiently. The rod cells have **axoneme**, which is an outer part of the rod cell that contains **rhodopsin** - seen in the picture below - the pigment that receives the light we see. Rhodopsin is very sensitive to light though, which is why it works better in dimmer places. In bright places, the rhodopsin breaks down fast and takes long to reform, and that is why we see black and white in dimmer conditions. This helps us because if we are walking outside, and it is very bright, the rod cells will help the light not pour into our eyes, same with the dark room, except for the dark room, the cells try to let the most light pour into our eyes, which is important in life. = =

[] fig. 30 =What Would Happen if you had or Inherited Broken or Missing Rod Cells? =

If you were to be born without rod cells, or broken them, one of the results is **retinitis pigmentosa**, according to the article [|Learning About Retinitis Pigmentosa] this is when your **photo-receptor** cells - the cells that enable you light - break down and cause vision loss. When this happens, you lose your **peripheral vision**, which lets you see things on the side of you while looking forward, when you lose this, it's like looking through two very small holes with your thumb and first finger, and look through them, that is what you would see with RP. As of right now, there is no known cure for RP but there are treatments that can enhance the light that comes into your eyes and let you see better. If you were to compare regular vision with RP vision, the regular would be much much better, not just a small difference. For more on this watch [|__Living with Retinitis Pigmentosa__] to get a better idea on what it would look like.

media type="youtube" key="tpy_y6dFZ2A" width="560" height="315" =Conclusion =

Rod cells may seem like a small part of your life that can't affect you a whole lot, but in reality rod cells will actually help you with most things you will ever do, from walking around the streets of the city to washing dishes, rod cells will come very much in need in all situations.

=References = = = [] fig. 30 [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Prentice Hall Science Explorer - Human Biology and Health <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Learning About Retinitis Pigmentosa] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Science aid.co.uk]

Works Cited

André, Rikard. Retinitis Pigmentosa - indoor light. YouTube. YouTube, 22 Nov. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpy_y6dFZ2A>.

Campbell, Robert. “Gene Expression Organization.” MindReach Library. MindReach Lib., 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2016. <http://www.cosmic-mindreach.com/Gene_Expression.html>.

“The Eye.” scienceaid.co.uk. scienceaid.co.uk, n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2016. <http://scienceaid.co.uk/biology/humans/eye.html>.

“Learning about Retinitis Pigmentosa.” Nation Human Genome Research Institute. NIH, n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2016. <https://www.genome.gov/13514348>.

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