Click4Biology: 2.

1 Cell Theory
Cells:
2.1.1 Outline cell theory: 2.1.2 Evidence for cell theory 2.1.3 Unicellular organisms 2.1.4 Relative sizes of cells 2.1.5 agnification. 2.1.! "urface area: #olume ratios and cell size. 2.1.$ Emergent %ro%erties 2.1.& 'ell differentiation 2.1.( "tem cells 2.1.1) *hera%eutic uses of stem cells

2.1.1 Outline the cell theory (2).

Outline: *o give a +rief account or summary.

,ll living things are made of cells. 'ells are the smallest unit of life. E-isting cells have come from other cells. "tated in this .ay 'ell *heory might +e attri+uted to "chleiden and "ch.ann /1&3&0. Ro+ert 1oo2e first coined the term 3cell3 after o+serving the structure of cor2 in 1!55. *he first o+servation of living cells .as +y ,nton van 4eeu.enhoe2 in 1!$4.

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Retros%ectively .e regard the o+servations of 1oo2e and 4eeu.enhoe2 as im%ortant contri+utions in the develo%ment of cell +iology. 1o.ever at the time the the microsco%e .as regarded +y many as a toy and not as a serious scientific instrument. *he %hiloso%hy of science at this time .as dominated +y the %hysical sciences and 3reductionism3 .hich held the vie. that all natural %henomena could ultimately all +e +est e-%lained in terms of its constituent %arts5 namely molecules and atoms. 6iology at this time .as not esta+lished as a serious autonomous science5 rather5 %hysics and chemistry .ere regarded as 3science3. *he dutch .ere regarded as the +est lens ma2ers of the time and it is there that the +est telesco%es and microsco%es .ere +eing made. 7e.ton himself .as not a%%ointed to the Royal "ociety until /8ecem+er 215 1!$1 0 .ith the invention of his reflecting telesco%e. *he .or2 for .hich 7e.ton +ecame more famous follo.ed this time and +egan .ith his discussion on ho. light is com%osed of a s%ectrum. *he conte-t and historical develo%ment of o%tics has +een covered +y in the outstanding 66' +roadcast 9n Our *ime.

2.1.2 Discuss the evidence for the cell theory ( ).

Discuss: :ive an account including5 .here %ossi+le5 a range of arguments for and against the relative im%ortance of various factors5 or com%arisons of alternative hy%otheses. a. All living things are made of cells: ;hen living things are o+served under the microsco%e they consistently a%%ear to +e com%osed of cells. 1o.ever5 there are a num+er of e-am%les that do not conform to the standard notion of .hat a cell loo2s li2e at the microsco%ic level. E-ce%tions the that test the rule of cell theory: !uscle cells: challenges the idea that a cell has one nucleus. < < uscle cells have more than one nucleus %er cell uscle 'ells called fi+res can +e very long /3))mm0.

< *hey are surrounded +y a single %lasma mem+rane +ut they are multi<nucleated./many nuclei0. *his does not conform to the standard vie. of a small single nuclei .ithin a cell "ung#l Cells: challenges the idea that a cell is a single unit. < =ungal 1y%hae: again very large .ith many nuclei and a continuous cyto%lasm*he tu+ular system of hy%hae form dense net.or2s called mycelium. < 4i2e muscle cells they are multi<nucleated < *hey have cell .alls com%osed of chitin < *he cyto%lasm is continuous along the hy%hae .ith no end cell .all or mem+rane

$rotoctist#: 'hallenges the idea that a cell is s%ecialised to a single function. >et5 the %rotoctista can carry out all functions of life. , cell ca%a+le of all necessary functions ,moe+a "ingle celled organisms have one region of cyto%lasm surrounded +y a cell mem+rane. *he %rotoctista cell is unusual in that it %erforms all functions. "uch cells are usually much larger than other cells such that some +iologist consider them 3acellular35 that is5 non<cellular.

*his is an image of an amoe+a. , single cell %rotoctista ca%a+le of all essential functions. ;hat cell organelles can you see?

b. Cells are the smallest unit of life.

*he cell is the smallest unit of organisation that can sho. all the characteristics of living %rocesses. Organelles often re@uire the coo%eration of other organelles for their successful function. 9nterested students should research the conce%t of endosym+iont theory.

c. Cells come only from other cells. < .here do cells come from?

'ells carry out a form of cell division to form ne. cells. *his %rocess of cell re%lication in eu2aryotes is called %itosis and in %ro2aryotes is called +inary fission. *he %arental cell divides to %roduce identical daughter cells. *his as%ect of cell theory suggests that all cells therefore have a common ancestor5 the original ancestral cell form .hich all other cells have arisen +y descent. /origin of cellular life0. *his relationshi% of common ancestor suggest thereof re that all organisms are related. *OA: 'ell theory re%laces the former ideas of s%ontaneous generation or a+iogenesis in .hich inanimate matter assem+les itself into living forms. *his .as %articularly +elieved to +e the case in out +rea2s of diseases. *hese ideas are then re%laced +y the .or2 of =rancesco Redi5 ,gostino 6assi5 Bohn "no. and 4ouis Casteur. *here still remains the necessary idea ho.ever that at some %oint cellular life develo%ed from non<cellular form. 7o dou+t this %re<cellular form .as a re%licating macromolecule %erha%s li2e R7,. uch of this discussion is +ased on the notion that life ta2es cellular form and that it is %ossi+le to define the e-act +oundary +et.een living and non<living. *here are scientist .ho suggest that too much im%ortance is attached to the resolution of the @uestion and that the definition of 3life3 is of little value.

2.1. &t#te th#t unicellul#r org#nis%s c#rry out #ll the functions of life (1).
State:means to give a s%ecific name5 value or other +rief ans.er .ithout e-%lanation or calculation. *hese organisms are a+le to carry out all the %rocesses .hich are characteristic of living things such as: a. metabolism .hich includes res%iration the synthesis of ,*C. +. response to a change in the environment c. homeostasis the maintenance and regulation of internal cell conditions. d. growth .hich for a unicellular organism means an increase in cell size and volume. e. reproduction .hich for the unicellular organism is largely ase-ual through cell division to form a clone. f. nutrition .hich means either the synthesis of organic molecules or the a+sor%tion of organic matter.

2.1.4 Co%'#re the rel#tive si(es of %olecules) cell %e%*r#ne thickness) viruses) *#cteri#) org#nelles #nd cells) using the #''ro'ri#te &+ unit ( )
Compare: means to :ive an account of similarities and differences +et.een t.o /or more0 items5 referring to +oth /all0 of them throughout. ;e de%end on the microsco%e for our o+servation of cellular structures. O+servations of this ty%e are for the most %art de%enda+le +ut .e must consider the introduction of 3artifacts3 +y those %rocesses that %re%are the material for microsco%y. *hese artifacts are a conse@uence of s%ecimen dehydration5 contrast enhancement /staining05 radiation and microsco%e function. *hese artifacts can lead to image or data distortions and misinter%retation. ,el#tive si(es: 1. molecules /1nm0. 2. cell mem+rane thic2ness /1)nm0. 3. virus /1))nm0. 4. +acteria /1um0. 5. organelles /less 1)um0. !. cells /D1)) um0. $. generally %lant cells are larger than animal cells.

nmE nanometer /1)<(m0

umE micrometer /1)<!m0

olecules of 6iological significance are around 1 nm in size .here as the cell mem+rane is a+out ten times thic2er at 1)nm. ;here as a virus is ten times larger again at around 1))nm. .here as a +acteria is ten times larger again at around 1 um. .here as a eu2aryotic animal cell is is ten time larger again at around 1) um. .here as a eu2aryotic %lant cell is ten times larger again at around 1)) um.

2.1.- C#lcul#te the line#r %#gnific#tion of dr#.ings #nd the #ctu#l si(e of s'eci%ens in i%#ges of kno. %#gnific#tion (2).
Calculate means find a numerical ans.er sho.ing the relevant stages in the .or2ing /unless instructed not to do so0. On an image of a s%ecimen it is useful to sho. ho. much largerFsmaller the image is than the real s%ecimen. *his is called magnification. /0ercise 1: "ind # le#f) #ny le#f #round 1121- c% in length.

a0 8ra. the leaf e-actly the same size as the it is in life5 add the vein %atterns and note the vein %attern at the edges of the leaf. +0 a2e sure you measure length and +readth of the leaf.

c0 ,dd la+els for structure d0 9f you 2no. the name of the s%ecies of %lant that the leaf comes from add this information. e0 , a title 3, diagram to sho. the structure of a 1elianthus s%%. leaf3. f0 =inally add the magnification as - 1 in the right hand +ottom corner of the diagram /+ut %rominent0. /0ercise 2: +ncre#sing the %#gnific#tion. a0 >ou must no. dra. the leaf again +ut this time dou+ling every measurement +0 'om%ete your diagram .ith the la+el - 2. /0ercise : Decre#sing the %#gnific#tion a0 >ou must no. dra. the leaf again +ut this time half all measurement and dimension. +0 ,dd the la+el - ).5 c0 *his means that all dimension have +een decreased +y one half of the original value. 'alculate magnification from an image: using a ruler measure the size of a large clear feature on the image easure the same length on the s%ecimen convert to the same units of measurement

!#gnific#tion 3 %e#sured length of the i%#ge 4%e#sured length of the s'eci%en 5ength of the #ctu#l s'eci%en 3 length on the i%#ge4 %#gnific#tion ( e.g. rose le#f 3 i%#ge length 4.2c%4 %#gnific#tion 1.62 3 -c% re#l length

&c#le B#rs: images often carry a scale +ar .hich is a horizontal line dra.n on the image. *he scale +ar sho.s ho. long the line is in the real s%ecimen. *his e-am%le sho.s a %lant cell. *he scale +ar indicates the length of 1) microns E 1)um 7otice that 1) um is a+out the vertical length of the diameter of the nucleus. ,ll other measurements from the image are made relative to this scale +ar.

9f you measure the actual length of the nucleus in this image and there is a scale +ar you can calculate the magnification of the image. "ee the formula a+ove if you re@uire assistance.

2.17 /0'l#in the i%'ort#nce of the surf#ce #re# to volu%e r#tio #s # f#ctor li%iting cell si(e ( ).
E-%lain means to give a detailed account of causes5 reasons or mechanisms.

,s the size of a structure incre#ses the surface area to volume ratio decre#ses. Reasoning: *his can +e seen +y %erforming some sim%le calculations concerning different<sized organisms.

*he rate of e-change of su+stances therefore de%ends on the organism3s surface area that is in contact .ith the surroundings. Reason: as organisms get +igger their volume and surface area +oth get +igger5 +ut not +y the same amount. *he volume increases as the cu+e +ut the area of the surface only increases +y the s@uare. Conclusions: o ,s the organism gets +igger its surface area : volume ratio decreases o *his rule is a limiting factor for cell size. o ,s the cell gets +igger the ratio decreases o 9f the ratio decreases the rate of e-change decreases

E-am%le: gas e-change of o-ygen for res%iration. o , cell .hich res%ires aero+ically demands o-ygen for the %rocess. o O-ygen is o+tained form the surrounding environment such as .ater or +lood /de%ends on the cell0. o O-ygen diffuses across the cell mem+rane. o ore mem+rane more diffusion /"urface areaE increases +y the 20. o 6igger cell /#olume E increases +y the 30. o 1o.ever the ratio of surface area2 : volume 3 is decreasing o *herefore the volume of o-ygen o+tained for each unit of cell volume is actually decreasing

'ells must not get too +ig +ecause they cannot o+tain sufficient o-ygen to satisfy the demands of the cell.

.hy cells are small /reasoning0: o "ize as a limiting =actors for cell +ecause: o , +ig cell needs more o-ygen than a little cell o 6ig cells need to have more o-ygen diffusion across the cell mem+rane. o 6ut the +ig cell has relatively small surface area com%ared to its volume i.e. the surface area: volume ratio is small. o ;hat ever other +enefits a cell might gain from +eing +ig5 it cannot +ecome larger than is limited +y the rate of gas e-change.
o

*his reasoning can +e a%%lied to nutrients and to .aste5 anything that is e-changed across the cell surface. *ry %re%aring a reason .hy size is a limiting factor for: O+taining nutrient /glucose0 E-cretion of .aste molecules / urea5 ammonia5 car+on dio-ide0.

o o o

2.1.8 &t#te th#t %ulticellul#r org#nis%s sho. e%ergent 'ro'erties (1).

State:means to give a s%ecific name5 value or other +rief ans.er .ithout e-%lanation or calculation. sylla+us: 3Emergent %ro%erties arise from the interaction of the com%onent %artsG the .hole is greater than the sum of the %arts3. "ystems +iologists attem%t to %ut together the %arts that ma2e u% a system and then o+serve the %ro%erties of that 3emerge3 from the system +ut .hich could not have %redicted from the %arts themselves. ,s a model consider the electric light +ul+. *he +ul+ is the system and is com%osed of a filament made of tungsten5 a metal cu%5 and a glass container. ;e can study the %arts individually ho. they function and the %ro%erties they %osses. *hese .ould +e the %ro%erties of :

*ungsten etal cu% :lass container.

;hen studied individually they do not allo. the %rediction of the %ro%erties of the light +ul+. Only .hen .e com+ine them to form the +ul+ can these %ro%erties +e determined. *here is nothing su%ernatural a+out the emergent %ro%erties rather it is sim%ly the com+ination of the %arts that results in ne. %ro%erties emerging. Emergence5reductionism and 6iology 2 *he a%%roach of the %hysical sciences is to reduce an inanimate %henomenon to its constituent %arts and that 2no.ledge of these .ill e-%lain the %henomena as a .hole. *he %arts do not vary /other.ise there .ould +e more %arts0 and these are %redicta+le .ithin the la.s and %rinci%les that descri+e them. "ince the smallest %arts are %redicta+le then the system as a .hole is %redicta+le. 7o ne. %ro%erties .ill arise from the sum of the %arts5 this is explanatory reductionism.

6iological systems need a different a%%roached5 population thinking5 .hich ac2no.ledges the role of variation in a %o%ulation. 'onse@uently the deterministic la.s and theories of the %hysical sciences do not a%%ly to all as%ects of +iological systems. *he H%artsI of the living system vary on +oth a %henoty%ic level and at the level of the genetic %rogram. *his is an im%ortant feature of the +iological system /com%ared to the non<living0 .hich is affected +y +oth the %hysiochemical la.s and also +y a genetic %rogram. Theory reduction is the conce%t that theories and la.s in one science field are sim%ly s%ecial cases of theories .hich are to +e found in the %hysical sciences. Emergence is the occurrence of une-%ected characteristics or %ro%erties in a com%le- system. *hese %ro%erties emerge from the interaction of the H%artsI of the system. Remem+er that +iology insists on a %o%ulation thin2ing so that .e 2no. the interacting H%artsI vary in themselves and therefore their HemergingI %ro%erties can only +e generalised. On a +iological scale consider the current de+ate a+out the nature of human consciousness or the origin of life itself.

2.1.6 /0'l#in th#t cells in %ulticellul#r org#nis%s differenti#te to c#rry out s'eci#li(ed functions *y e0'ressing so%e of their genes *ut not others ( ).
E-%lain means to give a detailed account of causes5 reasons or mechanisms.

,n interesting %arallel .ith economic theories is that the larger collective economic group the greater the number of specialisms5 /,dam "mith0 a rough guide .hich is found to hold true in living systems. ,s a general %rinci%le then .e find that the larger a multicellular organisms +ecome the more diversity and differentiated s%ecialisms there are .ithin the organism. Rather than all cells carrying out all functions5 tissues and organs s%ecialise to %articular functions. *hese organs and systems are then integrated to give the .hole organism /.ith its emergent %ro%erties0. 8ifferentiation: 'ells .ithin a multi cellular organism s%ecialise their function. "%ecialised cells have s.itched on %articular genes /e-%ressed0 that correlate to these s%ecialist functions. *hese s%ecific gene e-%ressions %roduce %articular sh#'es) functions and ada%tations .ithin a cell. *herefore a muscle cell .ill e-%ress muscle genes +ut not those genes .hich are for nerve cells. ;hat is the +enefit of differentiation and s%ecialisation of tissues rather than all tissues carrying out all functions? 9n a multi cellular organism s%ecialisation is more efficient than the generalised %lan .hen com%eting for a s%ecific resource. 'onsider the role of .ater trans%ort through the %lant: 1. 9n higher %lants .e have s%ecialisation to for a tu+ular system called the -ylem. 2. *his is more efficient .ay of .ater trans%ort than sim%ly +een %assed +y the mass movement of .ater from cell to cell. 3. 9n the -ylem .ater can +e moved very efficiently from underground to the cano%y of the highest trees at very little cost to the %lant.

4. 9f there is no s%ecialised tissue for carrying .ater then the %lant .ould rely on the movement of .ater +y mass flo. of diffusion .hich is very slo.. *he %lant is therefore limited in size and therefore cannot com%ete .ith larger s%ecies. *he study of ho. animal cells +ecome s%ecialised is called em+ryology. *his study area in +iology has +een develo%ing very fast in recent time. "ome of the discoveries a+out .hy some em+ryonic cells +ecome nerves5 muscles or +lood cells has led to ne. ideas a+out the evolution of life. *he ne. disci%line is called evolutionary develo%mental +iology or 3Evo<devo3.

2.1.9 &t#te th#t ste% cells ret#in the c#'#city to divide #nd h#ve the #*ility to differenti#te #long different '#th.#ys(1).
State:means to give a s%ecific name5 value or other +rief ans.er .ithout e-%lanation or calculation.

, stem cell retains the ca%acity to divide and has the a+ility to differentiate along different %ath.ays. , stem cell is a+le to divide +ut has not yet e-%ressed genes to s%ecialise to a %articular function. Under the right conditions stem cells can +e induced to e-%ress %articular genes and differentiate into a %articular ty%e of cell. "tem cells can +e o+tained from a variety of different %laces including the +lastocyte. ,dults still %osses stem cells in some organs +ut much less so than a child. Even the %lacenta can +e a useful source of stem cells.

2.1.11 Outline one ther#'eutic use of ste% cells (2).

Outline means to give a +rief account or summary. 1.7on<1odg2ins 4ym%homa is a cancerous disease of the lym%hatic system. Outline of the disease. 1. %atient re@uires heavy does of radiation and or chemothera%y. *his .ill destroy health +lood tissue as .ell as the diseased tissue. 2. 6lood is filtered for the %resence of %eri%heral stem cells. 'ells in the general circulation that can still differentiate into different ty%es of +lood cell other.ise 2no.n as stem cells. 3. 6one marro. can +e removed +efore treatment. 4. 'hemothera%y su%%lies to-ic drugs to 2ill the cancerous cells.

5. Radiation can +e used to 2ill the cancerous cells. 9n time ho.ever the cancerous cells ada%t to this treatment so that radiation and chemothera%y are often used together. !. Cost radiationF chemothera%y means that the %atients health +lood tissues is also destroyed +y the treatment. $. 1ealth stem cells or marro. cells can +e trans%lanted +ac2 to %roduce +lood cells again >ou may .ish to thin2 a+out more ela+orate forms of stem cell thera%y. *he follo.ing information %rovides an introduction to these technologies. 2. /%*ryonic &te% cell thera%y this animation is an e-cellent introduction to the use of em+ryonic stem cell for thera%ies. . Ther#'eutic cloning . *his is a method of o+taining E" cells from someone .ho has already +een +orn. *hese stem cells can +e used to treat the individual .ithout generating an i%%une res'onse. *he human +ody recognizes and attac2s foreign cells5 including stem cells. *his is a serious barrier to stem cell thera%y. *he %rocess of thera%eutic cloning is sho.n in this di#gr#%. 9t +egins +y ta2ing a somatic /+ody0 cell from the individual. *he somatic cell is fused .ith an egg that has had its nucleus removed. *he resulting cell is genetically identical to the individual +ecause it contains the 87, from the individualIs somatic cell. *he ne. cell +ehaves li2e a fertilized egg and develo%s into a +lastocyst. E" cells can +e harvested from the +lastocyst and gro.n in culture. *hese E" cells could +e used to treat the individual .ithout encountering resistance from his or her immune system. 7otice that .e do not not refer to this ty%e of +lastocyst as an em+ryo. *his is +ecause5 technically s%ea2ing5 an em+ryo is the result of the union of an egg and a s%erm5 .hich has not ha%%ened in this case. J 1. *he %atient re@uires the re%lacement of some diseased tissue. =irst .e o+tain a health cell from the same %atient. 2. ,t the same time .e re@uire a human egg cell. *his is mainly as the cell retains the tendency to divide unli2e the sam%le tissue from the %atient. 3. *he nucleus is removed from the egg and discarded. *he cell +ody itself is retained. 4. *he nucleus of the %atients cell is removed and retained. *he cell +ody of the %atients cell is discarded.

5. *he nucleus from the %atients cell is transferred to the enucleated cell +ody. !. *he cells then stimulated to divide forming a clone. $. *he cell mass forms a +lastocyst. &. *he inner cell mass +ecomes a source of toti%otent stem cells. *oti%otent means they are ca%a+le of +eing stimulated to +ecome one of any ty%e of cell. (. 'ells are stimulated using differentiation factors to +ecome the ty%e of cell re@uired for thera%y. 1). *hera%y .ould re@uire the transfer of the ne. healthy cell to the %atient. 9n thera%eutic cloning these cells have the same immune system identity as the %atient therefore there is not immune reKection %ro+lem. 9t is im%ortant that this techni@ue is not confused .ith em+ryonic stem cell cultures or .ith re%roductive cloning.