Chapter 2.

1: Cells theory
(Taken from the assessment statements)
2. 1. 1. Outline the cell theory
Formulated by Mathias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann.
1. All organisms are made up of cells.
2. Cells are the smallest unit of life.
3. All cells come from pre-existing cells.
2. 1. 2. Discuss the evidence for the cell theory
Robert Hooke described cells in 1665 (using his microscope to look at cork). He did not know what they are
yet, though.
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek observed animacula (likely some paramecia) some years later using his
microscope.
Mathias Schleiden stated that plants consist of independent, separate beings called cells in 1838.
In 1839, Theodor Schwann said the same for animals.

We havent found any non-cellular organism fitting the characteristics of life yet.

Louis Pasteurs experiment in the 1860s where he made chicken broth, boiled it (to kill all that lived in it)
and then let the broth in an enclosed, partially enclosed and fully open bottle. He observed that the enclosed
liquid remained pure, the partially enclosed grew cloudy slowly and the fully open one grew cloudy very
soon. That is how he concluded that cells cannot just magically appear in an environment they need to
come from pre-existing cells introduced into it.
2. 1. 3. State that unicellular organisms carry out all the functions of life.
All organisms carry out al the functions of life, including unicellular organisms.
The functions of life are (as copied from the book):
1. REPRODUCTION (involves hereditary molecules that can be passed to offspring)
2. HOMEOSTASIS (refers to maintaining a constant internal environment)
3. GROWTH (may be limited but is always evident in one way or another)
4. METABOLISM (includes all the chemical reactions that occur within an organism)
5. RESPONSE (to the environment is imperative to the survival of the organism)
6. NUTRITION (all about providing a source of compounds with many chemical bonds which can be broken to
provide the organism with the energy and the nutrients necessary to maintain life.



2. 1. 4. Compare the relative sizes of molecules, cell membrane thickness, viruses, bacteria,
organelles and cells.

atom 1 10
-10
m
molecule 1 nm 10
-9
m
cell membrane thickness 10 nm 10
-8
m
virus 100 nm 10
-7
m
bacterium 1 - 5 m 10
-6
m
organelle 10 m 10
-5
m
eukaryotic cell 100 m 10
-4
m

2. 1. 5. Calculate the linear magnification of drawings and the actual cell size of speci mens
in images of known magnification.
()
()
()

Mnemonic: SS goes underground!
2. 1. 6. Explain the importance of the surface area to volume ratio as a factor limiting cell
size.
It is necessary for cells to have a large surface area for membrane transport of nutrients, wastes, water and other
molecules.
Most cells are roughly spherical. The volume of a sphere can be calculated as

, whereas the surface area is

. Cubic functions have a faster growing slope than quadratic ones and so we can see that with growing
radius, the volume of a cell will grow faster than its surface area. This means that the ratio between its volume and
surface area will grow, making the cell less and less capable of efficient membrane transport.
The relationship between volume and surface
area is

.








2. 1. 7. State that multicellular organisms show emergent properties .
An emergent property is a behavior that emerges from an interaction between many smaller parts. It is often argued
that cognitive functions are an emergent property of neurons.
2. 1. 8. Explain that cells in multicellular organisms differentiate to carry out specialized
functions by expressing some of their genes but not others.
In multicellular organisms, it is not necessary for all cells to handle all tasks equally well for example it is possible
for some cells to focus more on immunity (leucocytes), for others on movement (muscle cells) etc. This grants the
organism a higher efficiency on the larger scale.
In the morula (first developmental stage, far before an embryo the baby is still only a uniform ball of cells), all cells
are multipotent embryonic stem cells, with the ability to differentiate into any of the three germ layers (endoderm,
mesoderm and ectoderm) and later into any of the cells of the given germ layer. This occurs through signaling
molecules such as hormones often acting as transcription factors. This means that these molecules can either inhibit
or promote the expression of some genes. It results in different cells having different traits, for example the liver
cells having lots of smooth endoplasmic reticula. This varying expression of different genes (smooth ER gene in liver
cells is expressed heavily there, but little in retina cells) will cause cell differentiation and the ability to carry out
specialized functions.

2. 1. 9. State that stem cells retain the capacity to divide and have the ability to
differentiate along different pathways.
Stem cells can be either embryonic (naturally occurring, retained their ability to divide and differentiate into many
different cells) or induced. Embryonic stem cells are generally pluripotent.
unipotent Can create only 1 type of cell
multipotent Can differentiate into any of the 3 germ layers
pluripotent Can differentiate into any cell (of that organism)

The meristema tissue in plants is an example of pluripotent stem cells.

2. 1. 10. Outline one therapeutic use of stem cells.
HOW:
1. extract and grow stem cells
2. treat with appropriate hormones, nutrients etc.
3. inject into patients body (along with some of the hormones etc.)
4. suppress the immune response of the patient
5. monitor patient for cancer
RETINA TRANSPLANT:
Stem cells (either pluripotent or unipotent for retina) can be injected into the eye with the right hormones and
other signalling molecules for development of retina cells and they will divide to form a new retina (or repair
his old one) for the patient.