National Geographic: The Incredible Human Body

Narrator: THE HUMAN BODY...

206 BONES...650 MUSCLES...

A HEART THAT WILL BEAT SOME THREE BILLION TIMES...

LUNGS THAT DELIVER BREATH THROUGH 1,500 MILES OF AIRWAYS.

ALL SUPERBLY ORCHESTRATED BY BILLIONS OF NERVE CELLS

AND BILLIONS OF MILES OF GENETIC INFORMATION,

IN COMBINATIONS THAT MAKE EACH OF US UNIQUE.

100 TRILLION CELLS, ONE INCREDIBLE HUMAN BODY...

EVERY DAY IT TAKES US ON A MIRACULOUS JOURNEY,

PUSHING THE FRONTIERS, MEETING AWESOME CHALLENGES...

DEFYING THE BOUNDARIES OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT.

A BASKETBALL STAR REDEFINES THE LIMITS OF PEAK PERFORMANCE.

PJ Brown: I THINK IF I COULD LOOK INSIDE MY BODY,

YOU'D PROBABLY SEE OUR HEART JUST BEATING A LOT FASTER.

Narrator: A CHILDLESS COUPLE CHALLENGES THE ODDS TO CREATE LIFE.

Mark Sauer: I WOULD SAY SHE HAS AT LEAST

A 50-50 CHANCE OF GETTING PREGNANT,

BUT YOU JUST DON'T KNOW GOING INTO IT WHERE IT'S GONNA GO.

Narrator: A SCHOOLTEACHER BATTLES THE DEATH

THAT LURKS DEEP WITHIN HIS BRAIN.

Frederick Meyer: HOW SERIOUS IS IT?

THE TUMOR'S GONNA KILL HIM. SO IT'S DEADLY SERIOUS.

Lisa Toenies: IT'S LIKE I SAID GOODBYE

BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WOULD BE LIKE COMING OUT.

Narrator: THESE ARE THE DAILY DRAMAS OF HUMAN LIFE,

BUT THEY TAKE PLACE INSIDE OURSELVES,

IN REALMS WE COULD NEVER SEE.

BUT NOW WE CAN.

TODAY, AWESOME NEW TECHNOLOGY

ALLOWS US TO PEER INSIDE OUR BODIES AS NEVER BEFORE...

TO SEE A BRAIN THINK, A HEART BEAT, A LIFE BEGIN,

TO DISCOVER THE BOUNDLESS POTENTIAL

OF THE INCREDIBLE HUMAN BODY.

Donald Coffey: THE HUMAN BODY...

IT'S MIND-BOGGLING TO SEE

HOW THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS INTEGRATED, IN A SENSE.

THE HEART BEATS. THE BRAIN IS FIRING ELECTRICAL SIGNALS.

YOUR EYES ARE CAPABLE OF CATCHING ALL THESE WAVELENGTHS

AND STORING THE LIGHT, RETRIEVING THE INFORMATION.

IF YOU APPROACHED ME AS AN ENGINEER

AND SAID, "MAKE ME A SYSTEM"

"THAT CAN RETRIEVE THAT KIND OF INFORMATION OF SOUND, LIGHT,"

"PUT IT WITH MEMORY, FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER SEEN"...

THIS IS AN AMAZING PIECE OF EQUIPMENT.

AND IT CAN ALL BE STORED IN THESE LITTLE TEENY CELLS,

WHICH CAN ALL COME TOGETHER AND FORM THIS BEAUTIFUL SNOWFLAKE CALLED A HUMAN,

WITH EACH ONE OF THEM AMAZINGLY DIFFERENT.

Narrator: FROM A CLUSTER OF CELLS,

A NEW HUMAN BEING BEGINS THE JOURNEY TO LIFE

EVERY QUARTER OF A SECOND SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD.

TO UNDERSTAND THE AMAZING RESULTS OF THAT JOURNEY,

WE MUST BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING, THE MIRACLE OF CONCEPTION.

FOR SOME COUPLES,

THAT SEEMINGLY COMMONPLACE MIRACLE SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE.

TODAY, REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCE - MARRYING SKILL AND KNOWLEDGE

TO THE MAGIC OF NATURE-- CAN MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPEN.

AND HERE IT WILL PROVIDE A WONDROUS WINDOW

INTO THE BEGINNING OF HUMAN LIFE.

Inez: MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE BEEN TOGETHER 11 YEARS

AND WE...WE WERE TRYING, BUT NOT TRYING.

AND IT JUST DAWNED ON US ONE DAY

THAT SOMETHING MIGHT BE WRONG, YOU KNOW,

THAT I'M NOT GETTING PREGNANT, AND WE DECIDED TO INVESTIGATE.

Sauer: WHAT I WANT TO DO IS SPEND MOST OF THE TIME

TALKING ABOUT IN VITRO WITH YOU GUYS...

Narrator: DR. MARK SAUER DOESN'T CLAIM TO MAKE MIRACLES,

BUT ABOUT ONCE A WEEK HIS FERTILITY TEAM

WILL HELP TO BRING A BABY INTO THE WORLD

THROUGH IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION, OR IVF.

WITH DR. SAUER'S HELP, INEZ AND DARRYL PEARSON

WILL HAVE A 50-50 CHANCE AT CREATING A NEW LIFE.

IVF REALLY IS A NATURAL PROCESS,

EVEN THOUGH IT'S OUTSIDE THE HUMAN BODY,

BECAUSE IT ALLOWS US TO PUT SPERM AND EGG TOGETHER

AND CREATE AN EMBRYO, WHICH IS NO DIFFERENT

THAN WHAT HAPPENS IN NATURE.

Narrator: BUT UNLIKE IN NATURE, REMARKABLE ACCESS TO DR. SAUER'S LABORATORY

WILL ALLOW US TO OBSERVE THE ENCOUNTER OF SPERM AND EGG

IN EXTRAORDINARY DETAIL.

Sauer: SO WE'LL BE SEEING YOU A LOT OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

Inez: OKAY. WE'RE JUST WAITING TO GET STARTED NOW.

Woman: YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND PUSH IT BACK IN

AND TRY IT AGAIN MAYBE A LITTLE MORE SLOWLY.

Narrator: INEZ BEGINS A REGIME OF HORMONE INJECTIONS

THAT WILL STIMULATE HER OVARIES

TO PRODUCE MORE THAN THE CUSTOMARY ONE EGG PER MONTH.

Inez: DO IT LIKE THIS, I'LL SQUEEZE THE SKIN...

Woman: YOU'LL WIPE WITH ALCOHOL...

...WIPE WITH ALCOHOL.

LIKE SO, OKAY?

A LITTLE BIT FASTER THAN THAT...

YEAH, LIKE THAT.

OH MY GOD...

Narrator: IT'S TIME.

AS HOPED, MANY EGGS ARE READY.

AS SHE IS PUT TO SLEEP, INEZ DELIVERS A DROWSY WISH.

Man: WHAT WAS THAT? WHAT DID SHE SAY?

Woman: SHE SAID, "I WANT A BOY."

Man: THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT SHE SAID.

Sauer: WE'LL START ON THE LEFT SIDE.

THERE'S A LOT OF FOLLICLES.

YOU CAN SEE THE NEEDLE TIP THERE ON THE SCREEN.

Narrator: THE REMARKABLE EGG THAT BEGINS HUMAN LIFE

IS A SINGLE CELL-- NO WIDER THAN A HAIR,

BARELY VISIBLE TO THE EYE.

Coffey: MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA HOW SMALL A CELL IS.

IF I CRUDELY SCRAPE THE INSIDE OF MY MOUTH,

I HAVE ABOUT 10,000 CELLS UNDER MY FINGERTIP.

THESE THINGS ARE REALLY SMALL!

YOU CAN'T SEE THAT WITHOUT A MICROSCOPE,

AND YET, THAT CAN MAKE A HUMAN. SEE HOW AMAZING THIS IS?

Narrator: ONE BY ONE, 27 PRECIOUS EGGS ARE RETRIEVED.

WHEN THE SAFETY OF THE EGGS IS ASSURED,

DARRYL'S SEMEN IS COLLECTED.

EMBRYOLOGIST BOB PROSSER WILL FILTER OUT

THE DEAD AND LESS-HEALTHY SPERM.

Prosser: OKAY, THIS IS THE "BEFORE" SAMPLE.

IT HAS NOT BEEN PROCESSED.

AND SO, FROM THIS WE CAN COMPARE THIS

WITH THE POST-PROCESSING SAMPLE.

YOU CAN SEE THAT THE SAMPLE IS MUCH CLEANER,

ALMOST ALL OF THE SPERM ARE MOTILE...

AND THEY LOOK LIKE HAPPY CAMPERS.

Narrator: DR. PROSSER POSITIONS THE EGG, MAGNIFIED 400 TIMES,

AND READIES THE SINGLE SPERM HE HAS SELECTED

FROM A POOL OF HUNDREDS.

THE SPERM IS INJECTED

AND THE CRITICAL MOMENT FOR FERTILIZATION ARRIVES.

LIKE A GREAT CELESTIAL DIRECTOR, HE REPEATS THE PROCEDURE,

GUIDING SPERM TO ANOTHER EGG.

IF THIS IS THE MEETING THAT PROVES SUCCESSFUL,

WE ARE OBSERVING-- IN THE IMMEDIACY OF REAL TIME--

THE FIRST MIRACLE OF MANY

THAT WILL LEAD TO THE LIFE OF A CHILD.

AT THIS MOMENT, TWO HUMAN DESTINIES INTERTWINE

AS GENETIC MATERIAL FROM INEZ'S EGG AND FROM DARRYL'S SPERM

ARE SHUFFLED TOGETHER.

EACH CONTRIBUTES 23 CHROMOSOMES--

STRANDS OF INFORMATION THAT WILL SOON UNITE.

LIKE A MICROSCOPIC MOUNTAIN RANGE,

EACH CHROMOSOME CARRIES GENES BUILT OF MOLECULES OF DNA--

THE MOST BASIC DESIGN ELEMENT OF HUMAN LIFE.

TOGETHER, THESE MOLECULES FORM AN INTRICATE INSTRUCTION MANUAL--

THE BLUEPRINT FOR AN ENTIRE NEW HUMAN BEING.

THE HUMAN BODY, LIKE A HOUSE, IS BUILT FROM A ROLL-UP,

ROLLED-UP SET OF BLUEPRINTS,

WHICH IS ROLLED UP INTO A LITTLE CHROMOSOME

AND IT'S A DNA SEQUENCE, AND IT SAYS "BLUE EYES;"

IT SAYS "FEMALE;"

IT SAYS "ABOUT FIVE FOOT EIGHT WITH BROWN HAIR."

Narrator: THE EPIC ACCOMPLISHMENT OF REVEALING OUR GENOME--

THE CODEBOOK OF HUMAN LIFE-- MAY SOON OPEN A FLOODGATE

OF BIOLOGICAL REVELATIONS.

CRAIG VENTER IS AT THE CREST OF THIS WAVE OF KNOWLEDGE.

Venter: A GENOME IS OUR COLLECTION OF ALL OUR GENETIC INFORMATION.

IT'S A FOUR-LETTER ALPHABET COMPOSING DNA,

AND WHEN WE SEQUENCE THE GENOME, WE DETERMINE THE EXACT ORDER

OF ROUGHLY THREE BILLION OF THOSE LETTERS.

IT'S ELEGANT IN IT'S SIMPLICITY.

THE GENETIC CODE HAS FOUR DIFFERENT CHEMICALS;

WE SUBSTITUTE A, C, G, AND T FOR THOSE.

WE ATTACH FOUR DIFFERENT COLOR DYES--

ONE COLOR FOR EACH OF THE LETTERS OF THE GENETIC CODE.

IT'S LIKE JUST SOLVING A JIGSAW PUZZLE,

ONLY THE JIGSAW PUZZLE HAS, IN OUR CASE, 27 MILLION PIECES...

SO IT CAME IN A VERY BIG BOX

AND THERE WAS NO PICTURE ON THE COVER.

Narrator: PUTTING THE PIECES OF THIS PUZZLE TOGETHER

HAS PROVIDED KNOWLEDGE

THAT WILL ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF HUMAN LIFE--

AND PERHAPS EVEN EXTEND IT.

Coffey: WE'RE AT THE VERY FUNDAMENTAL FIRST STEPS

IN A VERY POWERFUL FORCE.

THERE'S SOME RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGING AND OUR GENES.

SO IF WE CAN CONTROL THOSE GENES,

WILL WE BE ABLE TO EXTEND THE AGING PROCESS?

WELL, IT'S DISTANT STUFF, BUT PROBABLE.

KNOWING THE HUMAN GENOME, AND MAPPING UP HOW IT CHANGES,

IS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN UNDERSTANDING

THE MAKING OF THIS WONDERFUL HUMAN BODY THAT WE'VE GOT.

THROUGH THE HISTORY OF TIME,

THE DNA SEQUENCE HAS BEEN MARCHING DOWN

THROUGH GENERATION AFTER GENERATION OF YOUR RELATIVES,

AND NOW IT CONTINUES IN YOUR OFFSPRING.

Narrator: OVERNIGHT, DNA FROM INEZ'S EGGS AND DARRYL'S SPERM UNITE,

AND 13 OF THE 27 EGGS SHOW THE TELLTALE DIMPLE

THAT INDICATES SUCCESS. IT'S WORKING.

WITH EXQUISITE GRACE, ONE CELL BECOMES TWO,

TWO BECOME FOUR; EACH DUPLICATES THE ORIGINAL, UNIQUE DNA.

THE ENCHANTED PROGRESSION OF CELL DIVISION CONTINUES.

FOR FIVE DAYS, THE EMBRYOS ARE MONITORED.

FINALLY, THE DIVISION CREATES MASSES OF CELLS,

KNOWN AS BLASTOCYSTS,

AND ANY ONE OF THESE BLASTOCYSTS

MAY BECOME A PART OF THE PEARSON FAMILY.

Prosser: THIS EMBRYO HERE...

IF YOU LOOK AT THE OUTER SHELL ON THE CENTER EMBRYO,

IT'S VERY THIN.

THE EMBRYO IS GETTING READY TO HATCH OUT OF IT'S SHELL.

IT'S A VERY NICE BLASTOCYST.