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Transport systems Within all organisms substances need to be moved from one part to another, others need to be exchanged with the environment in order to enable survival and growth. Transport in simple organisms: By diffusion: In a unicellular organism such as amoeba, nutrients and oxygen diffuse directly into the cell and waste substances diffuse directly out through the cell membrane down their concentration gradients. This is because: - the surface area in contact with the environment is large relative to the volume inside the cell- the surface are to volume ratio is large - The organism is just one cell, so substances do not need to travel from cell to cell inside it. Transport in large organisms: In contrast to unicellular organisms: - Multi-cellular organisms are made up of billions of cells, and are organized into tissues and organs. - The substances need to travel long distances from the outside to reach the cytoplasm of all cells, and to move from cell to cell. Complex organisms have evolved specialized systems to increase their surface area available for exchange of materials with the environment. In humans, this transport system is an example of a mass transport system in which substances are transported with the flow of a liquid, and are delivered over short distances from the mass transport system to individual cells deep in the body by processes such as diffusion, osmosis and active transport.
Feature of mass transport systems: 1- a system of vessels that carry substances. 2- Substances are moved in the right direction: nutrients in and waste out, by maintaining their concentration gradients. 3- A way of moving materials fast enough by: - Mechanical methods: e.g. the pumping of the heart. - Maintaining steep concentration gradients so that substances move quickly from one place to another (e.g. by active transport) 4- A suitable transport medium (e.g. blood)
- Haemoglobin is a conjugated protein that has high affinity to oxygen at high oxygen tension, and lower affinity at low oxygen tension.