Polite Dissent

I was going define the science terms used by Grant Morrison in All-Star Superman #1, but Silver Bullet Comics beat me to it (scroll down to the bottom of the page. Personally, I would have been a lot more wordy). Instead, I’ll just take a close look at some of the biology used by Morrison in the comic:

1. Apoptosis

Cells of the body can die in one of two ways. The first, known as necrosis, is due to injury, damage, or exposure to toxins. With necrosis, the dying cells swell and their contents leak into surrounding tissues. This causes an inflammatory response that can damage other nearby cells.

The second method of cell death is known as apoptosis. In this situation, the cell essentially commits suicide. The cell receives signals that cause it to shut itself down. The cell shrinks and is broken down into smaller membrane-encased bubbles which are absorbed by the immune system. There is no inflammatory response. Apoptosis allows the body to eliminate particular cells without disturbing neighboring cells.

Apoptosis is an important part of development. There are times when an animal needs a certain anatomical structure for just a brief period of time. After this time is up, the structure is no longer needed and the cells that compose it will be broken down. A tadpole’s tail is a good example. As the tadpole becomes a frog, the tail is resorbed by the animal and its cells broken down by apoptosis. As for humans, apoptosis is known to play a role in fetal development and the female menstrual cycle.

That’s the traditional role of apoptosis. It is used by the body to recycle cells that have served their purpose, and that’s why it is sometimes referred to as “programmed cell death.”

More recently, scientists have begun to understand that apoptosis has other functions as well. The body uses apoptosis to kill off virus-infected cells and to attack certain tumors. It stops the immune system from going into overdrive. Low dose exposure to heat, radiation and certain drugs will induce apoptosis (while high dose exposures will cause necrosis). On the other hand, overly aggressive apoptosis — or a lack of it — is thought to play a role in certain diseases. For example, apoptosis seems to be important in the destruction of CD4 cells by the HIV virus, but the exact mechanism is unclear.

In All-Star Superman #1, Dr. Quintum informs Superman that his cells have entered apoptosis due to an overload of solar radiation. As mentioned above, high dose heat and radiation usually cause necrosis, not apoptosis — but maybe all the radiation that Superman absorbed is considered low dose for a Kryptonian. It also appears that he absorbed enough to kick all his cells into apoptosis at once. It’s certainly unlikely, but as Dr. Quintum himself says, “Only nothing is impossible.”

• All-Star Superman is by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely.
• An excellent overview of Apoptosis (in-depth, but not incomprehensible).
• Barbelith’s annotations to All-Star Superman #1 (a well-done wiki page).