Entosis

Entosis is like when one cell eats another cell. It's not trying to be mean, it's just trying to clean up!

Imagine you have a toy box full of toys. You might grab one toy and put it inside another toy to make it neater. That's kind of like what happens with entosis.

In biology, the outer layer of a cell is called the plasma membrane. Sometimes, one cell's plasma membrane will stick to another cell's plasma membrane. Then, the first cell will sort of "crawl" inside the second cell, kind of like when you crawl into a blanket fort. Once inside, the first cell's bits and pieces will start to break down the second cell's bits and pieces. This is kind of like when you smash toy cars together to make one big car.

The cool thing about entosis is that it actually helps keep tissues healthy. When a cell is old or damaged, it needs to be cleaned up or it might cause problems for the body. By eating it up, another cell can help keep everything working properly.