INTRODUCTION TO CELL

1ST YEAR
CHAPTER 1
 Both living and non-living things are
composed of molecules made from chemical
elements such as Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen,
and Nitrogen. The organization of these
molecules into cells is one feature that
distinguishes living things from all other
matter.
 The cell is the smallest unit of matter
that can carry on all the processes of life.
PROPERTIES
 1. Reproduction. Organisms reproduce; life comes only from life
(biogenesis).
 2. Growth and Development. Heritable programs stored in DNA
direct the species-specific pattern of growth and development.
 3. Energy Utilization. Organisms take in and transform energy to
do work, including the maintenance of their ordered state.
 4. Order. Organisms are highly ordered, and other characteristics of
life emerge from this complex organization.
 5. Response to Environment. Organisms respond to stimuli from
their environment.
 6. Homeostasis. Organisms regulate their internal environment to
maintain a steady-state, even in the face of a fluctuating external
environment.
 7. Evolutionary Adaptation. Life evolves in response to
interactions between organisms and their environment.
The cell is an organism's basic unit of
structure and function.
 Lowest level of structure capable of

performing all activities of life.

• All organisms are composed of cells.
• May exist singly as unicellular
organisms or as subunits of multicellular
organisms.
DISCOVERY
 The invention of the microscope led to the discovery of the
cell and the formulation of the cell theory.
 • Robert Hooke (1665) reported a description of his

microscopic examination of cork. Hooke described tiny boxes

which he called "cells" (really cell walls). The significance of
this discovery was not recognized until 150 years later.
• Antonie van Leeuwenhok (1600's) used the microscope to
observe living organisms such as microorganisms in pond
water, blood cells, and animal sperm cells.
• Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann (1839) reasoned
from their own microscopic studies and those of others, that
all living things are made of cells.
 This formed the basis for the cell theory.
Cell Theory consists of three principles:
a. All living things are composed of one
or more cells.
b. Cells are the basic units of
structure and function in an organism.
c. Cells come only from the replication
of existing cells.
PROKARYOTIC CELLS
 Based on structural organization, there are two
major kinds of cells: prokaryotic and eukaryotic.
 Prokaryotic cell = Cell lacking membrane-bound

organelles and a membrane-enclosed nucleus.

• Found only in the archaebacteria and bacteria
• Generally much smaller than eukaryotic cells
• Contains DNA that is not separated from the rest
of the cell, as there is no membrane-bound
nucleus
• Lacks membrane-bound organelles
• Almost all have tough external walls
EUKARYOTIC CELL
Eukaryotic cell = Cell with a membrane-enclosed nucleus
and membrane-enclosed organelles.
• Found in protists, plants, fungi, and animals
• Subdivided by internal membranes into different
functional compartments called organelles
• Contains DNA that is segregated from the rest of the cell.
DNA is organized with proteins into chromosomes that are
located within the nucleus, the largest organelle of most
cells.
• Cytoplasm surrounds the nucleus and contains various
organelles of different functions
• Some cells have a tough cell wall outside the plasma
membrane (e.g., plant cells). Animal cells lack cell walls.
 Diversity and unity are the dual faces of life on Earth
 Biological diversity is enormous.
• Estimates of total diversity range from five million to over 30 million species.
• About 1.5 million species have been identified and named, including
approximately 260,000 plants, 50,000 vertebrates, and 750,000 insects.
 To make this diversity more comprehensible, biologists classify species into
categories.
 Taxonomy = Branch of biology concerned with naming and classifying
organisms.
• Taxonomic groups are ranked into a hierarchy from the most to least
inclusive category: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus,
species.
• A six-kingdom system recognizes two prokaryotic groups and divides the
Monera into the Archaebacteria and Eubacteria.
• The kingdoms of life recognized in the traditional five-kingdom system are
Monera, Protista, Plantae, Fungi, and Animalia
CELL SIZE
• Most cells are
between 2µm and
200µm
• A micrometer is 1
millionth of a
meter!
• Too small to be seen
with naked eye

A few types of cells are large enough to be seen by the

unaided eye. The human egg (ovum) is the largest cell in the
body, and can (just) be seen without the aid of a microscope
(equal to the dot u make to finish your sentence).
CELL SIZE

Most cells are small for two main

reasons:
 a). Rate of Diffusion

 b). Amount of DNA

CELL SIZE
Rate of Diffusion limits cells size:
• Movement from higher concentration to lower
concentration

• Larger the distance, slower the diffusion rate

• A cell 20 cm would require months for nutrients to
get to the center
CELL SIZE
Rate of Diffusion limits cells size:
• Cells are limited in size by
their surface area to
volume ratio.
• A group of small cells has
a relatively larger
surface area than a
single large cell of the
same volume.
 This is important because the nutrients, oxygen, and other
materials a cell requires must enter through it surface. As a
cell grows larger at some point its surface area becomes
too small to allow these materials to enter the cell quickly
enough to meet the cell's need
 Rate of diffusion α Surface Area x Concentration
Difference
Distance
CELL SIZE
Surface area to volume ration limits
cells size:
CELL SIZE
Amount of DNA limits cells size:
• larger cells need
more DNA. Needs
more of everything.
• Most of the cells
have only one
nucleus.

• The cell’s nucleus can only control a certain volume

of active cytoplasm.
CELL SIZE
CELL SHAPE VARIATION
 Cells come in a variety of shapes –
depending on their function:-

• The neurones from

your toes to your head
are long and thin.

• Blood cells are rounded

disks, so that they can
flow smoothly.
CELL SHAPE VARIATION

• Protection, passage through.

• Support, absorption, secretion.

• Absoption, secretion, storage,

differential bipolarity.
INTERNAL ORGANIZATION
 1. Cells contain a variety of internal structures called
organelles.
 2. An organelles is a cell component that performs a
specific function in that cell.
 3. Just as the organs of a multicellular organisms
carry out the organism's life functions, the organelles
of a cell maintain the life of the cell.
 4. There are many different cells; however, there are
certain features common to all cells.
 5. The entire cell is surrounded by a thin cell
membrane. All membranes have the same thickness
and basic structure.
INTERNAL ORGANIZATION
INTERNAL ORGANIZATION
CELLULAR ORGANIZATION