The inner balance

Dissecting the complexity of biology to find the balance in you. An “east-meets-west” opinion…

For hundreds of years, we, Vietnamese people, have carried the belief that everything is kept in harmony by opposite, yet equal forces. This principle must have originated during hundreds of years of Chinese colonization, when the famous Yin Yang philosophy was adopted in our country. This philosophy refers to a set of antagonistic, but unified elements, which cannot exist without the other, and govern the occurrence, development, change, and demise of every natural thing. Simple examples include dark and light, night and day, or cold and heat. While the former is Yang (the dark side); the latter is Yin (the sunny side).

The Yin Yang theory has formed the foundation of Chinese medicine, which believes any imbalance may cause illnesses in the body. Therefore, in our medical practice, a cold (Yang) can be treated with “hot” (Yin) ginger, or mint; while rashes (Yin) could be treated with “cold” (Yang) medicinal herbs. The same principles can be seen in our cuisine, when Yang in duck is balanced with Yin in ginger.

Yin and Yang exists everywhere in the natural world, including in our body.

Though complex as it may seem, biological processes may be simplified to a set of opposite, yet unified events as Yin and Yang. Different examples can be given.

First, ‘on’ and ‘off’ is two opposite states of a signaling pathway. Upon a signal from outside, cells trigger a signaling cascade to transmit the signal to the nucleus, where decisions over the outside signal are made. In the end, a signaling cascade needs to go from ‘off’ to ‘on’ to deliver the signal; while it also needs to go back ‘off’ to cut off the transmission. By this means, like Yang transforming to Yin, and Yin back to Yang, a signaling cascade switches between ‘on’ and ‘off’ to ensure normal cellular functions. Failure in such a balance, as in the RAS signaling protein, may cause diseases like cancer.

Second, despite its diversity, immune cells (blood cells that build up our immune system such as macrophages, dendritic cells, T cells, B cells, etc.) can be divided into effector and regulatory types. While effector cells trigger immune responses; regulatory ones suppress (Figure1). Upon invading pathogens such as bacteria, and virus, effector cells get activated, initiating a cascade of immune events to sweep off the pathogens. Macrophages “eat” and “digest” pathogens; pathogenic information is passed on to other immune components; T cells “awake” and kill off infected cells; while B cells “mature” and produce protective antibodies. Though important to protect the body, immune responses should not be prolonged after pathogen elimination. Regulatory cells arise and counteract effector ones to bring the immune system back to steady state. The intricate balance between ‘effector’ and ‘regulatory’ ensures protective responses without any damage to normal cells in the body. Like a balance in Yin and Yang, ‘effector’ and ‘regulatory’ dynamically transforms to each other to maintain a well-balanced immune system. An imbalance to ‘effector’ may cause strong immune responses, where normal cells are potentially killed as in autoimmune diseases. In contrast, an imbalanced shift to ‘regulatory’ may cause weaker/compromised immunity, in which harmful components may escape from the immune system, and cause diseases as in cancer. 

Figure 1. Not as complex as it may seem, our immune system is a Yin-Yang balance between effector and regulatory states. While effector cells arise to sweep off invading pathogens; regulatory ones switch off immune responses to prevent damage to normal tissues. Like Yin (white) transforming to Yan (black), and Yang transforming to Yin, effector and regulatory states harmoniously convert to ensure an immune balance, which protects, yet causes no damage to the body. Figure was made thanks to biorender.com.

In the end, by changing our view into the biological world, dissecting its complexity into the simplicity of Yin and Yang, heat and cold, on and off, we will find the inner balance residing in each of us. A biological system is built by billions of components which harmoniously occur, cooperate, counteract, and transform to maintain that inner balance.

Cover photo source: http://www.iaacblog.com/programs/humanity-order-balance/