The studies of Robert Hooke 1665 into a plant material would allow the determination of a pore like regular structure surrounded by a wall of which he called ‘cells’ this in itself unbeknownst to him, was the discovery of the fundamental unit of all living things.
In 1838 a botanist called Schleiden derived the theory ‘The basic unit of structure and function of all living organisms is the cell.’ Over 150 years later this can be regarded as one of the most familiar and important facts within the biological fields.
Drawing of cork cells published by Robert Hooke 1665
The Cell itself and use of Cytology:
The cell can be thought of as a bag in which the chemistry of life is allowed to occur, partially separated from the environment outside the cell, it exists within all living organisms as its basic structure.
The study of cells is made possible through the use of ‘cytology’ the preparation of materials for examination through microscopes as an average animal cell exists on a scale of 10 microns roughly one hundredths of a millimetres. Originally light microscopy was used in this field but with the advancement of knowledge scientists were restricted to 200nm magnification, or 2 tenths of a micron. Realising the existence of cell organelles within the cell structure, allowing the function of the cell itself to occur; It was necessary to increase magnification by utilising an alternate source radiation (alternate to light).The result was the electron microscope, whereby the short wavelength and negative charge of electrons when supplied with energy allowed for greater focusing with electromagnetism. This method bends the path of the beam in the manner of a lens to light.
Cell Organelles and the variation between Plant and Animal Cells:
We have already determined the cell to be the foundation to all organisms, however the term cell is associative and categorises a wide variation.
Every animal cell has a specified function whether it be the production of hair, mucus, or the process of other chemicals ( multiple reactions occur within a cell for other purposes i.e. creation of ATP, protein manufacture etc.) So from this we must examine the cell in more detail and determine what it is within the cell that creates it specialised function and separates it as an individual type.
Plant cells vary from animal through the existence of certain organelles.
Organelles are the substances that provide a cell with the ability to produce (a production line) and exist within the cells boundaries.
to construct and or maintain the cell membrane. In a microscopic view of the cell membrane we can
Woven throughout Thomas’ The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher is a desire to link scientific phenomena with social behavior—to peruse the symbiotic relationship that we, as humans, are incapable or perhaps unwilling, to contemplate. Thomas’s ridicule of what he has identified as being a sort of human superiority complex is the needle—the mechanism—by which he is able to stitch together these two seemingly divided realms. He has sensed our inherent fear of “touch” and all that it embodies, simultaneously criticizing and enlightening us about our irrational, bizarre attitude towards the natural world. Our repudiation of “the inhuman” and our craving for control, according to Thomas, “[say] something about our century, our attitude toward life, our obsession with disease and death, our human chauvinism” (“Thoughts” 7).
Organelles work together to carry out life processes and functions. Each organelle has a certain responsibility to carry out. Organelles are always working diligently to maintain a cell’s internal process and functions. Firstly, the “brain” of the cell is the nucleus. The nucleus administrates all of the cell activities. And, found within the nucleus there is genetic material called chromosomes. Secondly, the nuclear membrane surrounds the nucleus. Additionally, the mitochondria makes ATP energy from food. The lysosomes has digestive enzymes that help break food down. Furthermore, the ribosomes make protein. Then, the Golgi apparatus process and package the
For many year, scientists have been researching and experimenting to understand how life on earth began and what was the turning point. Many studies and research were done in order to answer this question. After many years of research, scientists finally discovered the essence of life to be the cell. In order to consider something alive, the cells in the organism should be able to grow, reproduce, have the ability to process information, and carry out chemical reactions (Freeman 1). Even though cells are small, they are very complex and they are the functional unit in the human body. After discovering the cell, scientists wanted to know what is the structure of the cell. Under a microscope, an english scientist by the name of Robert Hooke was able to first observe the cell under a microscope using a part of a tree (Karp 2). Scientists divided cells into two different categories; eukaryotic cells and prokaryotic cells; each category has specific characteristics that defines each kind of cell. For instance, eukaryotic cells have a membrane bound organelle called the nucleus as well as ...
Gardiner, L. (2004). Organelles of Eukaryotic Cells. In Windows to The Universe. Retrieved December 8, 2013, from http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Life/cell_organelles.html.
Lewis Thomas, in his book The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher, criticizes how society exists within a paradoxical
The book draws its name from the first essay, "The Lives of a Cell," in which Thomas offers his observations on ecology and the role of cellular activity. He writes that the "uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing then its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single cell, fertilized in a bolt of lightning as the earth cooled" (3).
parts, and each part has its own job. The nucleus of a cell is very similar
Cells are able to grow and reproduce. Cells reproduce by splitting and passing on their genes (hereditary information) to Daughter cells. The nucleus always divides before the rest of the cell divides. Therefore each daughter cell contains their own nucleus. The nucleus controls the cells activities through the genetic material DNA. The cells in a body are all the same except the gametes they were all made from one cell, the Zygote. This is the cell that was formed when two gametes from your parents fused.
There are two main types of cells in the world. The simplest cells such as bacteria are known as Prokaryotic cells, and human cells are known as Eukaryotic cells. The main difference between each of these cells is that a eukaryotic cell has a nucleus and a membrane bound section in which the cell holds the main DNA which are building blocks of life.
Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. The human body is composed of trillions of cells. They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry out specialized functions. But it also contains highly organized physical structures which are called intracellular organelles. These organelles are important for cellular function. For instance Mitochondria is the one of most important organelle of the cell. Without Mitochondria more than 95% of the cell’s energy, which release from nutrients would cease immediately [Guyton et al. 2007].
The Animal Cell is a little bit different than the Plant Cell for only a couple of reasons. One is how the Plant Cell has a cell wall and the Animal Cell doesn’t. The cell wall protects and gives structure to the cell. Then there is the Nucleus, which serves as a control center for the cell. Inside the Nucleus there are one or more Nucleoli. They are dense, granular bodies that disappear at the beginning of cell division and reappear at the end. Then you have the Cytoplasm. This is the watery material lying within the cell between the cell membrane and the nucleus. The Cytoplasm also contains organelles, which have specific functions in the cell metabolism. Then there are the Golgi Bodies, which serve as processing, packaging, and storage for the cell. These organelles package and ship things out. Another parts of the cell, a very important one in fact, are the Lysosomes. These organelles are used to break things down and contain enzymes.
This report provides an insight into the differences in the structure of cells and the way that they carry out their internal mechanisms. Cells form the basis of all living things and they are the smallest single unit of life. Cell biology is the study of cells and how they function, from the subcellular processes which keep them functioning, to the