Chloride Cells

Chloride Cells? 

Yes, I know, sounds like a very random topic, doesn't it? 

The job that God gave chloride cells is amazing, though! 

On day five of the creation week, God created all the creatures that live in the sea. 

"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life..." 

"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind.......and God saw that it was good."

"And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas..."

"And the evening and the morning were the fifth day." 

When God said He blessed the creatures of the sea, He wasn't just saying that. He really did bless them. And it's easy to see, if one looks at the complexity of each creature. Each carefully constructed fish, made by the hands of our loving Lord and Savior. The complexity in each creature is outstanding!!!It's obvious we must have an Intelligent Designer that created us!

Just take a look at chloride cells. 

Chloride cells are used by God to regulate the salt  

intake of certain fish (osmoregulators). Osmoregulators can regulate its internal concentration of salts. Whereas, osmocomfortors allow its internal concentration of salts to change in order to match the salts in the surrounding water.

In the teleost, the chloride cells are located in the gills and pump sodium and chloride ions out into the sea against a concentration gradient.

In salmon, chloride cells help distribute the salt intake, in the gills, by pumping out the sodium and chloride ions into the sea. 

Why is this important?

If the chloride cells weren't there then the fish would intake too much salt. Salmon has a difficulty in ocean water, as well as fresh water. While in ocean water, the salmon gets too dehydrated and must drink lots of water. (Well, actually it absorbs the water through its digestive system into its blood. The water gets to stay in the tissues, while the salts are excreted in small amounts of concentrated urine, as well as through the chloride cells in its gills.) 

When fish absorb too many ions, the excess ions absorbed are pumped out of the body via the chloride cells.

What all do chloride cells do?

Well, basically, chloride cells will perform integral roles in acid-base regulation to make sure the fish doesn't dehydrate. Without chloride cells, there would be a lot of dead fish, because of dehydration. And I know, how strange? Fish are in water, and they can dehydrate? Doesn't seem right does it? But, it's in God's wonderful plan for the creation of these lovely creatures. And thankfully, He blessed the fish with chloride cells so that the fish won't dehydrate. I think that's amazing!

There is a lot more complexity in fish that are yet to be discussed. In the chloride cells, pedrin (antiporter anion exchanger) helps by mediating the electro neutral exchange of chloride for bicarbonate across the plasma membrane. 

All cells have plasma membranes (outer walls that separates the internal fluid from the exterior environment) And bacteria even has a wall outside of the plasma membrane to provide mechanical support and form.

When God first created the world, things were much different. Everything was perfect, including the marvelous sea creatures. And who knows?! (Except God. Of course God knows,) The waters could have been much different before sin entered the world, and before the Flood happened. There may not have been as much salt in the water as there is now. Whether the fish actually had to use their chloride cells before the Flood, I do not know, but surely after the Flood they had to, because of all the salt that ended up in the ocean.

How come so much salt got in the ocean during the Flood?

There are many ways for this to have happened.

During the Flood, the fountains of the deep burst forth, the waters probably carried the earth's surface tons of pulverized crustal material containing large amounts of salts.  Sodium chloride was also carried into the ocean by hydrothermal vents from below the earth's crust. As I discussed a little about volcanoes in the Flood in my last post, volcanoes' gases and rock decomposition are where a lot of the salt in the sea comes from. Rocks have a lot of salt in them, and as rain dissolves the salt, the salt is carried away into stream, and then eventually into the ocean. 

Now with all that salt in the water (I'm sure the fish weren't used to), the chloride cells could finally do their job, and keep the fish happy (however fish can be happy) and healthy. 

The complexity of chloride cells is proof alone we have an Almighty Creator/ God. 

Everything God does is unique, and amazing. Chloride cells did not evolve, nor did fish, nor did anything or anyone. How could anyone think the world came from randomness, with all the complexity that we have in each organism. If randomness can do that, I'm in shock. (Although, how do i know I'm really in shock. Or did I randomly just say that? How can I know, if everything happens from randomness?) Randomness could never create anything. Randomness did not create anything. 

God is the Creator of everything. And not just that, He also loves everyone, so much that He, our loving God, came here just for you and me, and died, taking the blame for our sins, so that we could get saved and go to heaven one day. And I'm so happy, the grave couldn't hold Jesus, and He rose again on the third day! Only God can create miracles. we see miracles every day, whether we know it or not. Nothing happens by random chance. Whether we're talking about chloride cells, or dragons, God has a special plan for everything He created. 

Praise God that He is our Creator!