Question: You say said something about something eating cells. How do they actually eat the cells.

Kylie Belchamber answered on 13 Jun 2016:

Good question!

Cells eat other cells – they are cannibals!
Macrophages, a type of white blood cell, are found in all of your tissues and organs, all over the body. If another cell nearby dies (due to old age, or damage) it will start to breakdown. This can be dangerous, because the cell is full of enzymes and proteins that could damage other cells nearby, causing lots more death than is needed!
Instead, the cell will release a signal to the macrophages, saying ‘help, I’m dying!’ The macrophage will then come over, and attach to special molecules on the dying cell. This activates the macrophage, and it will slowly be dragged into the macrophage.

Imagine putting a malteaser (the dying cell) to your lips (macrophage). Your lips touching the malteaser are like the molecules attaching to the dying cell. If you then slowly suck, the malteaser will pop into your mouth! This is basically what happens! I suggest trying this when you get home, as an experiment!