CELL BIOLOGY

Modern cell theories

 All living matter is composed
of cells
 All new cells arise from
other cells
 All metabolic reactions of an
organism take place in cells
 Cells contain the hereditary
information of the organisms
of which they are a part, and
Other information…
 All cells are similar in
comprising a self-
contained and more or
less self-sufficient
unit, surrounded by a
cell membrane and having
a nucleus at some stage
of their existence.
 At the same time cells
show a remarkable
biodiversity of
structure and function.
 More…
 Cells are basically spherical in
shape, although modification to
suit function leads to a degree of
diversity
 In size, they mostly range from 10-
30µm in diameter
 Their size is restricted by:
 The surface area to volume ration,
which must be large to allow exchange
of metabolic substances
 The capacity of the nucleus to
exercise control over the rest of the
THE DISCOVERY OF
CELLS

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 MICROSCOPE
 To observe the dramatic
properties of a single cell
 Visible parts of the cell
 Light microscope - achieve
magnifications of up to 1500
 Electron microscope- over 500,000
times
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 Comparison of light and electron
microscopes
Light microscope Electron microscope
Advantages Disadvantages
Cheap to purchase and Expensive to purchase
operate and operate
Small and portable Very large and must be
Unaffected by magnetic in special room
fields Affected by magnetic
Preparation of material field
is relatively quick and Preparation of material
simple is lengthy and complex
Living as well as dead Living material cannot
material may be viewed be observed
Natural colour can be All images in black and
observed white
 Image by microscopes

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Light microscope Electron microscope

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Light microscope Electron microscope

Disadvantages Advantages
Magnifies object Magnifies objects
up to 1500x up to 500,000x
Can resolve Has a resolving
objects up to 200 power for biological
nm apart specimens of
The depth of field around 1 nm
is restricted It is possible to
investigate a greater
depth of field
BASIC CELL POPERTIES
 Cells are highly complex and
organized
 Cellular activities -
remarkably precise
 Eg DNA duplication (error rate
1 in 10 million nucleotides
incorporated)
 Organizations: atom, molecules,
polymers, polymeric molecules,
subcellular organelles, and
finally into cells
 From cells into tissues, organ
and system
 Cells possess a genetic
program and the means to
use it
 Organisms are built accoding to
information encoded in a collection
of genes
 A set of chromosomes that occupies
th space of a cell nucleus
 Genes are more than storage lockers
for information
 They constitute the blueprints for
constructing cellular structure,
the directions for running cellular
activities and the program for
making more of themselves
 Cells are capable of
producing more of
themselves
 Reproduce by division, a
process in which the
contents of a mother cell
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 Prior to division,
genetic material is
duplicated, and each
daughter cells receives
complete and equal share
of genetic information
 In certain cases (eg
oocyte), the cells retain
 Cells acquire and utilize
energy
 Developing and maintaining
complexity requires the constant
input of energy
 The energy from sunlight is
trapped by light-absorbing
pigments present in the membranes
of photosynthetic cells
 Light energy is then converted
into chemical energy that is
stored in energy-rich
carbohydrates
 ATP is produced when breakdowns
Cells carry out a variety of
chemical reactions
 Chemical changes which
require enzymes
 The biochemical
reactions - cell’s
metabolism
 CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY AND
PHYSIOLOGY
 Knowledge of the submicroscopic
molecular pattern of the protoplasm
is necessary to comprehend the
structure and function of cells
 Biochemistry
 Describe and analyze the chemical
changes that occur in organisms
 Investigations into the chemistry
of living systems have shown that
individual cells, whether of
plants, animals and
microorganisms, are fundamentally
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 Physiology
 response of organisms and cells
to their environment,
 mechanism of cell growth,
 duplication, and reproduction,
 ability of cells to take up
nutrients from the environment,
 function and method of control
of an organism’s metabolic
machine
 CYTOLOGY

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 A study of cells
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 Two basic types -
prokaryotic and
eukaryotic cells
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 MOLECULAR
ORGANISATION
 ATOM

 Smallest unit of a
chemical element which
can exist independently
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 It has a nucleus made up
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of
 Positively charged
particles - protons
 Particles with no charge
- neutrons
 Around this positively
charged nucleus orbit -
negatively charged
 IONS
 When an atom loses an
electron (a process called
oxidation), it becomes
positively charged due to
the excess of protons over
electrons
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