HBI012

Foundation Biology 2
TOPIC 1

CELL BIOLOGY

Cell Biology Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. Draw and describe the structure of plant and animal cells

both their general structure and the structure of each
individual organelles that they contain.
2. Describe each organelles function and explain how it
contributes to the overall functioning of each cell, as a
unit.
3. Describe the various methods by which materials enter
and leave cells, and how they move about within the
cells.

Cell Biology Learning Outcomes (cont'd)

4. Explain the importance of enzymes in every
functional aspect of the cell and the structural
and functional relationship of the enzymes
themselves and the effects of temperature, pH
and substrate on the amount of product
formed
5. Describe methods by which cells control
enzyme activity.

LECTURE 1

CELL STRUCTURE

Cell Structure
(Discoveries in Science have often paralleled
the advances made in technology. The
invention of the microscope was what lead to
the discovery of the cell)
Robert Hooke is the person responsible for
the term cell used in Science.
Around 1665 he was viewing a slice of
cork under the microscope and called
what he saw cells.
This is from the Latin word Cella which
means storeroom or small container.

Timeline of Cell History and

Discovery
1595 Janssen
credited with first

compound
microscope
1665 - First to see cells Robert Hooke
1674 - First to see living cells and Protozoans

Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek

1838 Matthias Schleiden discovered all
plants are
made of cells
1839 Theodre Schwann discovered all
animals are
made of cells
1855 Rudolph Virchow experimenting
with
diseases found that all cells
come from
existing cells.

Cells are the Basic units of

Life.

1. All reactions that take place in living cells

can be expressed in terms of physical
and chemical laws. (e.g. ways enzymes
control chemical reactions etc.)
2. All organisms are made up of cells
and there are basic similarities in
the chemical make-up and
metabolism of all cells.
3. The establishment of the Cell Theory in
1838 by Schleiden and Schwann with the
added research by Virchow, changed the
face of Cell Biology forever.

The Cell theory states

that:

1. All living things are made of cells

(Schleiden)
2. Cells are the basic units of life.
(Schwann)
3. Cells come only from other cells.
(Virchow)

These are the basics of the Cell Theory

The Cell Story

Organisms may be unicellular one celled (e.g.
Amoeba) or they may be multicellular (formed
of many different cells) e.g. Humans.

VS.

Multicellular organisms may be composed of a

variety of cells, but no one cell group can
exist alone, they must all co-operate in
order to survive.

Cell differentiation
When cells take on a different shape, size,
and chemistry, suitable for a certain
function during development.
Cells vary in size, shape (round, flat, long,
rectangle etc.) and internal components
They may also exist in different
arrangements depending on function
(e.g. multiple layers, single layers etc.)

Cell Specialization

Cells usually have separate roles for each type of

cell in a multicellular organism; the cells is
specifically designed for a certain function; it has a
certain purpose or job.
Arrangement and shape are a clue that the
structure of a cell is related to its various functions.
The size and shape of a cell is related to its
function
Eg. Can you guess what the function of the following
cells are?

Division of Labor
A more efficient way of getting jobs done in a
multicellular organism because the different
tasks are dispersed to different cells, each of
which is specialized to do that job.
The organelles that make up a certain cell are
also determined by the specific functions
carried out by the cell

Levels of Organization
A system of hierarchy in which a group of
things are arranged in order of rank,
complexity, or size.
Example:

 Cell size is also important, but cell size is

governed by several factors.

Cell Size is governed by

several factors:

DNA must be available to produce the

enzymes and protein for the proper
functioning of a cell
The second restriction is the surface area
to volume ratio The higher the
SA:Volume ratio they have, the
more efficient the cell is.

Surface area and Volume

Total surface area = Height x Width x no# of
sides x
no. of boxes/cells (m2)
Total volume
boxes/cells (m3)

= Ht x Wd x Lg x no# of

SA : Volume ratio =

surface area / volume

For Example:
[A]
1cm

[B]
10cm

[C]
1cm

1.Calculate the Total Surface Area for A, B, and C

above.
2.Calculate the Total Volume for A, B and C.
3.Use the above values to calculate the SA:Vol
ratio for each of the three examples above.

Calculated SA:V Ratio Values for A, B

and C
A

Total SA

1x1x6
= 6 cm2

10 x 10 x 6
= 600cm2

1x1x6x8
= 48cm2

Volume

1x1x1
= 1 cm3

10 x 10 x 10
= 1000cm3

1x1x1x8
= 8cm3

SA : Vol

6/1
=6

600/1000
= 0.6

48 / 8
=6