ABSTRACT
Billions of colonic epithelial cells (colonic cells or colonocytes) join together to form the surface or lining of the colon, an organ that is essential for our survival. As in the case of sperm cells, colonic cells have evolved to inhabit a location contacting the external environment. This location allows them to obtain nutrients directly from the gut. Colonic cells are also exposed to a rapidly changing and potentially lethal environment determined by conditions and contents of the colon, largely an anaerobic world. In a strange quirk of nature, colonocytes have evolved to benet from DHA present in the diet and transported via the circulatory system, or alternatively, transported via the gastrointestinal tract and incorporated into membranes of these cells. Uptake of DHA is also believed literally to save lives by preventing colon cancer.
