A Moment of Science
Imagine that you're an insect, and that you've fallen ill because some bacteria or parasites have invaded your body. What do you do?
Do insects even have hearts? Sure they do, but their hearts are somewhat different from human hearts.
The blood of an insect functions differently than the blood of a human. In humans, blood gets its red color from hemoglobin, which travels through blood vessels carrying oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Insect blood, however, does not carry gasses and has no hemoglobin.
Here’s how innate immunity works. In your bug body there is a fluid called hemolymph, which is equivalent to human blood. If you’re injured, components in the hemolymph interact with specialized cells in your immune system to clot and form a scab that seals off your wound and prevents infection.
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