AsclepioNephron: how urine is made in 3D
The nephron is the unit that does the kidney's work. It has a filter, the glomerulus inside Bowman's capsule, and a long tubule that returns what is…
Explained for every age
For kids (7–11)
The nephron is a tiny filter that cleans your blood. Inside each kidney there are about a million of them. Here you can see how it separates the water, sugar, and salt your body needs from the wastes that leave in the urine.
For teens (12–16)
The nephron is the unit that does the kidney's work. It has a filter, the glomerulus inside Bowman's capsule, and a long tubule that returns what is useful to the blood and lets the wastes pass on. The kidneys filter a lot of fluid every day, but almost all the water goes back to the blood through the tubules. In the scene, the blue dots are water, the yellow ones glucose, the white ones salt, the green ones urea, and the red discs red blood cells, which are not filtered.
Pre-Med (17+)
The nephron consists of a renal corpuscle (glomerulus and Bowman's capsule) and a renal tubule: proximal tubule, loop of Henle, distal tubule, and connecting tubule, which drains into the collecting system. A healthy adult has between 1 and 1.5 million nephrons per kidney. It turns blood into urine through filtration, reabsorption, secretion, and excretion. About one fifth of the plasma reaching the glomerulus is filtered; more than 150 liters of filtrate enter an adult's glomeruli each day, and 99% of the water is reabsorbed. Hormones such as antidiuretic hormone (water), aldosterone (sodium and potassium), and parathyroid hormone (calcium and phosphate) adjust reabsorption and secretion. The scene is a diagram, not to scale.
What you can explore
GlomerulusBowman's capsuleProximal tubuleLoop of HenleDistal convoluted tubuleCollecting ductAfferent and efferent arteriolesPeritubular capillariesGlomerular filtrate
Missions
- The kidney's filter Explorer
- The filtrate's route Discoverer
- Tubular handling of the filtrate Pre-Med