aaaaaaaay extracellular matrix

How cool is it that when you take all the cells out of an organ it still looks like an organ?

I remember when I was in high school and still very confused about how tissues worked, because all anyone taught me was that we’re made up of piles of cells hung on bones.  But that’s not how it is!  Cells build themselves little hammocks of polymer and densely branched glycoproteins; we’re like onions, layers of membrane over tough rubbery collagen, huge protein scaffolds cradling slippery organs.

Bodies are not made of cells — bodies are made by cells.

^confused me so much in high school! They never mention it at all.