Cell theory

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A prokaryote

Cell theory refers to the idea that cells are the basic unit of structure in every living thing. Development of thistheory during the mid 17th century was made possible by advances in microscopy. This theory is one of the foundations of biology. The theory says that new cells are formed from other existing cells, and that the cell is a fundamental unit of structure, function and organization in all living organisms.
Contents
[hide]

1 History

1.1 Modern interpretation

1.2 Types of cells

2 See also 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External links

[edit]History

Drawing of the structure of cork by Robert Hooke that appeared in Micrographia

The cell was coined by Robert Hooke in 1665 (Aton Van Leeuwenhoek discovered cells first in which he termed animalcules). Robert Hooke examined (under a coarse, compound microscope) very thin slices of cork and saw a multitude of tiny pores that he remarked looked like the walled compartments a monk would live in. Because of this association, Robert Hooke called them cells, the name they still bear. However, Hooke did not know their real structure or function.[1] Hooke's description of these cells (which were actually non-living cell walls) was published in Micrographia.[2] His cell observations gave no indication of the nucleus and other organelles found in most living cells.

The first person to make a compound microscope was Zacharias Jansen, while the first to witness a live cell under a microscope was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who in 1674 described the algae Spirogyra and named the moving organisms animalcules, meaning "little animals".[3] Leeuwenhoek probably also saw bacteria.[4] Cell theory was in contrast to the vitalism theories proposed before the discovery of cells. The idea that cells were separable into individual units was proposed by Ludolph Christian Treviranus[5] andJohann Jacob Paul Moldenhawer.[6] All of this finally led to Henri Dutrochet formulating one of the fundamental tenets of modern cell theory by declaring that "The cell is the fundamental element of organization".[7] The observations of Hooke, Leeuwenhoek, Schleiden, Schwann, Virchow, and others led to the development of the cell theory. The cell theory is a widely accepted explanation of the relationship between cells and living things. The cell theory states: All living things or organisms are made of cells and their products. New cells are created by old cells dividing into two. Cells are the basic building units of life.

The cell theory holds true for all living things, no matter how big or small, or how simple or complex. Since according to research, cells are common to all living things, they can provide information about all life. And because all cells come from other cells, scientists can study cells to learn about growth, reproduction, and all other functions that living things perform. By learning about cells and how they function, you can learn about all types of living things. Credit for developing cell theory is usually given to three scientists: Theodor Schwann, Matthias Jakob Schleiden, and Rudolf Virchow. In 1839, Schwann and Schleiden suggested that cells were the basic unit of life. Their theory accepted the first two tenets of modern cell theory (see next section, below). However the cell theory of Schleiden differed from modern cell theory in that it proposed a method of spontaneous crystallization that he called "Free Cell Formation".[8] In 1858, Rudolf Virchow concluded that all cells come from pre-existing cells, thus completing the classical cell theory.

[edit]Modern

interpretation

The generally accepted parts of modern cell theory include: 1. 2. All known living things are made up of one or more cells. All cells arise from pre-existing cells by division.

3. The cell is the fundamental unit of structure and function in all living organisms.

4.

The activity of an organism depends on the total activity of independent cells.

5. Energy flow (metabolism and biochemistry) occurs within cells.

6. 7. Cells contain hereditary information (DNA) which is passed from cell to cell during cell division. All cells are basically the same in chemical composition in organisms of similar species.

[edit]Types

of cells

Cells can be subdivided into the following subcategories:

1. Prokaryotes: Prokaryotes lack a nucleus (though they do have circular DNA) and other membranebound organelles (though they do contain ribosomes). Bacteriaand Archaea are two domains of prokaryotes.

2. Eukaryotes: Eukaryotes, on the other hand, have distinct nuclei bound by a nuclear membrane and
membrane-bound organelles (mitochondria, chloroplasts,lysosomes, rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, vacuoles). In addition, they possess organized chromosomes which store genetic material.
[edit]See

also

The CELL THEORY, or cell doctrine, states that all organisms are composed of similar units of organization, called cells. The concept was formally articulated in 1839 by Schleiden & Schwann and has remained as the foundation of modern biology. The idea predates other great paradigms of biology including Darwin's theory of evolution (1859), Mendel's laws of inheritance (1865), and the establishment of comparative biochemistry (1940). Ultrastructural research and modern molecular biology have added many tenets to the cell theory, but it remains as the preeminent theory of biology. The Cell Theory is to Biology as Atomic Theory is to Physics.

Formulation of the Cell Theory In 1838, Theodor Schwann and Matthias Schleiden were enjoying after-dinner coffee and talking about their studies on cells. It has been suggested that when Schwann heardSchleiden describe plant cells with nuclei, he was struck by the similarity of these plant cells to cells he had observed in animal tissues. The two scientists went immediately to Schwann'slab to look at his slides. Schwann published his book on animal and plant cells (Schwann 1839) the next year, a treatise devoid of acknowledgments of anyone else's contribution, including that of Schleiden (1838). He summarized his observations into three conclusions about cells: 1) The cell is the unit of structure, physiology, and organization in living things. 2) The cell retains a dual existence as a distinct entity and a building block in the construction of organisms. 3) Cells form by free-cell formation, similar to the formation of crystals (spontaneous generation). We know today that the first two tenets are correct, but the third is clearly wrong. The correct interpretation of cell formation by division was finally promoted by others and formally enunciated in Rudolph Virchow's powerful dictum, "Omnis cellula e cellula"... "All cells only arise from pre-existing cells". The modern tenets of the Cell Theory include: 1. all known living things are made up of cells. 2. the cell is structural & functional unit of all living things. 3. all cells come from pre-existing cells by division. (Spontaneous Generation does not occur). 4. cells contains hereditary information which is passed from cell to cell during cell division. 5. All cells are basically the same in chemical composition.

6. all energy flow (metabolism & biochemistry) of life occurs within cells.

As with any theory, its tenets are based upon previous observations and facts, which are synthesized into a coherent whole via the scientific method. The Cell Theory is no different being founded upon the observations of many. (Landmarks in the Study of Cells) Credit for the first compound (more than one lens) microscope is usually given to Zacharias Jansen, of Middleburg, Holland, around the year 1595. Since Jansen was very young at that time, it's possible that his father Hans made the first one, but young Jansen perfected the production. Details about the first Jansen microscopes are not clear, but there is some evidence which allows us to make some guesses about them (Jansen microscopes). In 1663 an English scientist, Robert Hooke, discovered cells in a piece of cork, which he examined under his primitive microscope (figures). Actually, Hooke only observed cell walls because cork cells are dead and without cytoplasmic contents. Hooke drew the cells he saw and also coined the word CELL. The word cell is derived from the Latin word 'cellula' which means small compartment. Hooke published his findings in his famous work, Micrographia: Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses (1665).

Ten years later Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), a Dutch businessman and a contemporary of Hooke used his own (single lens) monocular microscopes and was the first person to observe bacteria and protozoa. Leeuwenhoek is known to have made over 500 "microscopes," of which fewer than ten have survived to the present day. In basic design, probably all of Leeuwenhoek's instruments were simply powerful magnifying glasses, not compound microscopes of the type used today. Leeuwenhoek's skill at grinding lenses, together with his naturally acute eyesight and great care in adjusting the lighting where he worked, enabled him to build microscopes that magnified over 200 times, with clearer and brighter images than any of his colleagues at that time. In 1673, Leeuwenhoek began writing letters to the newly formed Royal Society of London, describing what he had seen with his lenses. His first letter contained some observations on the stings of bees. For the next fifty years he corresponded with the Royal Society. His observations, written in Dutch, were translated into English or Latin and printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Leeuwenhoek looked at animal and plant tissues, at mineral crystals, and at fossils. He was the first to see microscopic single celled protists with shells, the foraminifera, which he described as "little cockles. . . no bigger than a coarse sand-grain." He discovered blood cells, and was the first to see living sperm cells of animals. He discovered microscopic animals such as nematodes (round worms) and rotifers. The list of his discoveries is long. Leeuwenhoek soon became famous as his letters were published and translated. In 1680 he was elected a full member of the Royal Society. After his death on August 30, 1723, a member of the Royal Society wrote... "Antony van Leeuwenhoek considered that what is true in natural philosophy can be most fruitfully investigated by the experimental method, supported by the evidence of the senses; for which reason, by diligence and tireless labour he made with his own hand certain most excellent lenses, with the aid of which he discovered many secrets of Nature, now famous throughout the whole philosophical World". No truer definition of the scientific method may be found. Between 1680 and the early 1800's it appears that not much was accomplished in the study of cell structure. This may be due to the lack of quality lens for microscopes and the dedication to spend long hours of detailed observation over what microscopes existed at that time. Leeuwenhoek did not record his methodology for grinding quality lenses and thus microscopy suffered for over 100 years.

German natur-philosopher and microscopist, Lorenz Oken had been trained in medicine at Freiburg University. He went on to become a renown philosopher and thinker of the 19th century. It is reported that in 1805 Oken stated that "All living organisms originate from and consist of cells"... which may have been the first statement of a cell theory.

Around 1833 Robert Brown reported the discovery of the nucleus. Brown was a naturalist who visited the "colonies of Australia" from 1801 through 1805, where he cataloged and described over 1,700 new species of plants. Brown was an accomplished technician and an extraordinarily gifted observer of microscopic phenomena. It was Brown who identified the naked ovule in the gymnospermae. This is a difficult observation to make even with a modern instrument and the benefit of hindsight. But it was with the observation of the incessant agitation of minute suspended particles that Brown's name became inextricably linked. The effect, since described as Brownian Movement, was first noticed by him in 1827. Having worked on the ovum, it was natural to direct attention to the structure of pollen and its Brown interrelationship with the pistil. In the course of his microscopic studies of the epidermis of orchids, discovered in these cells "an opaque spot," which he named the nucleus. Doubtless the same "spot" had been seen often enough before by other observers, but Brown was the first to recognize it as a component part of the vegetable cell and to give it a name. This nucleus (or areola as he called it) of the cell, was not confined to the epidermis, being also found, in the pubescence of the surface and in the parenchyma or internal cells of the tissue. This nucleus of the cell was not confined to only orchids, but was equally manifest in many other monocotyledonous families and in the epidermis of dicotyledonous plants, and even in the early stages of development of the pollen. In some plants, as Tradascantia virginica, it was uncommonly distinct, especially in the tissue of the stigma, in the cells of the ovum, even before impregnation, and in all the stages of formation of the grains of pollen. It is upon the works of Hooke, Leeuwenhoek, Oken, and Brown that Schleiden and Schwann built their Cell Theory. It was the German professor of botany at the University of Jena, Dr. M. J. Schleiden, who brought the nucleus to popular attention, and to asserted its all-importance in the function of a cell. Schleiden freely acknowledged his indebtedness to Brownfor first knowledge of the nucleus, but he soon carried out his own observations of the nucleus, far beyond those of Brown. He came to believe that the nucleus is really the most important portion of the cell, in that it is the original structure from which the remainder of the cell is developed. He called it the cytoblast. He outlined his views in an epochal paper published in Muller's Archives in 1838, under title of "Beitrage zur Phytogenesis." This paper is in itself of value, yet the most important outgrowth of Schleiden's observations of the nucleus did not spring from his own labors, but from those of a friend to whom he mentioned his discoveries the year previous to their publication. This friend was Dr. Theodor Schwann, professor of physiology in the University of Louvain.

"Mikroskopische Untersuchungen ber die bereinstimmung in der Struktur und dem Wachstum der Thiere und Pflanzen"

Microscopic Researches on the Conformity in Structure and Growth Between Animals and Plants For the first 150 years, the cell theory was primarily a structural idea. This structural view, which is found in most textbooks, describes the components of a cell and their fate in cell reproduction. Since the 1950's, however, cell biology has focused on DNA and its informational features. Today we look at the cell as a unit of self-control. ie., the description of a cell must includes ideas about how genetic information is converted to structure. The cell doctrine reached its present-day eminence in 1896 with the publication of E. B. Wilson's The Cell in Development and Heredity, which was an accumulation of what was known about the roles of cells in embryology and chromosomal behavior.

Protocells: One theory of the origins of cells states that the first life on earth consisted of several types of tiny protocells, cell-like organisms. These organisms were able to survive and reproduce in a very limited environment because of their simplicity. Over time, some of these protocells came together and shared their specialization in a symbiotic relationship. These colonies of protocells eventually became the cells we know today. Types of cells:

Prokaryotes - cells with no nucleus or organelles with membranes. Bacteria and blue-green bacteria are prokaryotic cells. Eukaryotes - cells that contain a nucleus and organelles surrounded by a membrane. The cells of protozoa, algae, fungi, plants, and animals are eukaryotic cells.

Except for bacteria, all organisms we will study this year will be eukaryotes. Plant cells and animal cells are similar, but do not have exactly the same cell parts and shape.

Clinical Lab Technician

Cell organelles: components of cells with specific functions.

Cell membrane

(bio lab 054)

A complex barrier of lipid molecules separating the cell from its external environment. These molecules can move apart to allow larger particles to move in or out of the cell. The "selectively permeable" cell membrane regulates what passes into and out of the cell. Some substances, like water, move freely through the cell membrane by a process known as osmosis. In osmosis, particles move easily from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration by molecular motion only. Cells can push particles in the opposite direction, from low concentration to high, but it will take energy from the cell to do this.

Visit this site on Diffusion and Osmosis

1. What is the animation in the box showing? (explain in at least one paragraph) You may need to hit refresh on your browser to reactivate the animation. 2. Watch the animation of water molecules moving across a selectively permeable membrane. Why are the water molecules moving to the right? Hint: Osmosis (Explain in at least a

paragraph) 3. Look at the section on "Types of Solutions". Explain what would happen to a cell if it was put in the following solutions: isotonic hypertonic hypotonic 4. What is Active Transport and when is it needed by the cell? For more help on Osmosis visit this site and try out the simulations Honors biology: Visit the following site 1. Read through each of the concepts (1-5) 2. Complete each of the practice items within each concept 3. Print completed: concept 1 practice & concept 4 practice. 4. Complete the practice quiz at the end, must get a 100% (print it off) Cytoplasm A thick, aqueous solution of salts surrounding the organelles inside the cell membrane. Nutrients and minerals spread through the cytoplasm to all parts of the cell. The constant motion of this gel-like substance is called cytoplasmic streaming. Nucleus The structure inside the cell that directs cell activities. Contains the DNA of a cell. Cell wall On the outside of some cells, bacteria and plants, this structure functions for support and protection. There are pores in the cell wall allowing substances to come in contact with the cell membrane. Types of cell walls: a. Primary cell wall - formed during cell growth, it is composed of parallel layers of cellulose and pectin. This structure allows the cell to expand as it grows. While it does provide support, it is not nearly as strong as the secondary cell wall. b. Secondary cell wall - formed after cell growth stops, it is composed of interwoven cellulose and lignin fibers. This structure is very strong, but does not give. It gives plants their "woody" characteristic. Ribosome The sites of protein synthesis in a cell. These small, spherical structures are the most numerous organells in almost all cells. Some ribosomes produce protein to be used within the cell and some produce

protein that is "exported" to other parts of an organism.

Endoplasmic reticulum A membrane system of folded sacs and tunnels in the cytoplasm. Rough "ER" is covered with ribosomes. It is common in cells that export proteins and directs the proteins flow. Smooth "ER" as few or no ribosomes. It functions as a pathway for molecules to follow. Golgi Apparatus A stack of membranes or sacs that acts to prepare substances for export from the cell. Once the Golgi apparatus has enclosed the final product in a vesicle, or pouch, the product is sent through the cell membrane. Mitochondria Respiration centers of a cell. Large organelles scattered through most cells, they are most numerous in cells that use a lot of energy like liver and muscle cells. Lysosome Digestive centers of a cell. They produce many different types of enzymes and digest things from food particles to a cell's own worn out parts. Vacuole Most common in plant cells, they are storage sites within a cell. Plastid Pigment producing organelle in cells.

Day 1 Assignment - Cells and the Cell Cycle Scoring criteria 1. What is the cell theory? Who proposed the cell theory and in what year? 2. What is a Protocell? 3. What are the differences between a prokaryotic cell and eukaryotic cell. Include a diagram of each to support your answer. 4. How are animal cells and plant cells different? 5. What is the function of the cell membrane? 6. What does a phospholipid look like? Why is it an important part of animal cells? 7. Where does respiration take place within a cell? 8. What is Osmosis? How are active and passive transport within a cell different? 9. Diffusion and Osmosis: Complete the "To Do" Activity above and place the

questions and answer here. 10. Visit this virtual cell web page Read the "how to use link" Using the Html

virtual cell web page complete this handout: Word doc. format format:

Honors biology: Complete 1-9 above and this section (for number 9 only complete honors section)

1. Right click on this The living cell and "save target as" to your desk top. Once it has finished downloading view the video and complete the video quiz. Write the video quiz questions and answers with todays assignment. 2. Build a cell: See link for details (This portion of the assignment will have a separated due date and be completed outside of class)

Cells and the Cell Cycle: Day 2

What group of cells in the human body does not have a nucleus? Size of living things:
The smallest known living thing on Earth is a bacteria in the genus Coxiella. These bacteria are about 8 millionths of an inch (0.2 micrometers) in diameter. Their small size means these bacteria contain only 100 million to 120 million atoms. While this may seem like a large number, keep in mind that the human body has over 5 Billion cells. It is believed that fewer atoms would be unable to build the structures needed to store information and carry out the metabolic processes needed for life. The largest known animal is the blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus. It is known to reach lengths over 100 feet (30+ meters) and weigh 120 tons. The chart below indicates that all animal cells are about 10 micrometers in diameter. This means that the cells of a blue whale and a human are essentially the same size.

Day 2 Assignment - Cells and the Cell Cycle This assignment must be turned in by the end of class tomorrow to receive credit. Scoring criteria Question: Would a cell survive if it grew to be the size of your head?

Draw a table like this one on your paper or print this word doc. of the

table and use your data and calculations to complete it. Measure and record the diameter of a large marble, a ping-pong ball, and a baseball, in centimeters. Calculate the surface area and volume of each object. Show how you set up the following calculations on your paper. Use 3.14 for in these calculations. The formula for calculating the surface area of a sphere is surface area = 4 r 2 The formula for calculating the volume of a sphere is V = 4/3 r 3 Honors biology: After completing the table use the back to do the following: 1. Perform the same calculations for a human cheek cell and compare it to the others.
diameter of marble surface area of cm marble cm2 volume of marble cm3 What is the ratio of surface area to volume?

diameter of pingpong ball cm

surface area of ping- volume of pingpong ball pong ball cm2 cm3

What is the ratio of surface area to volume?

diameter of baseball cm

surface area of baseball cm2

volume of baseball cm3

What is the ratio of surface area to volume?

How does surface area and volume compare as objects get larger?

*After completing the table, answer the to do question (stated above) here. Explain your answer.
Research Links: Webcytology Simulation - Create your own unicellular species Cellular Biology - Altruis Biomedical Network Biology 100 - Wayne's World The Cell - Thinkquest Cell Structure - Carroll College Cell Biochemistry - Carroll College Virtual Cell - Virtual Cell The Cell Nucleus - University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Cell Membranes - Texas A&M University Cells Alive - By James A. Sullivan Cell & Molecular Biology Online - Links by Pamela Gannon Cell Biology Hypertextbook - Massachusetts Institute of Technology Digital Learning Center for Microbial Ecology - Michigan State University Cell Membrane Tutorial - The Biology Project

Animal cells never have a cell wall.

Red blood cells do not have a nucleus.

They are produced in the "flat" bones of the body, live for about 120 days, and die without reproducing. Their sole purpose is to carry oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood.

Cell theory is the basis for the way that biologists study living things. Cell Theory is the most basic condition for determining if something is living. Modern Cell theory It states: 1. All living things are made up of cells. 2. Cells are the basic units of structure and function in living things. 3. Living cells come only from other living cells.
Modern Cell Theory

4. The cell contains hereditary information which is passed on from cell to cell during cell division. 5. All cells are basically the same in chemical composition and metabolic activities.

History of Cell Theory: (click on the pictures to go to the websites) Robert Hooke (1665)
Hooke was an English scientist who looked at cork through a compound microscope and observed tiny room-like structures that reminded him of the "cells" that monks lived in. Therefore these structures became known as cells. The cork cells where not alive so he only saw the cell wall.

Anton Van Leeuwenhoek (1674)

Van Leeuwenhoek was a Dutch fabric merchant but considered himself an amateur scientist. He looked at many different things through his microscope (teeth scapings, rainwater, blood) and observed living cells which he called "animalcules". He wrote many papers that were widely accepted by the scientific community which was unusual for a non-scholar.

Matthias Schleiden (1838) Schleiden was German Botanist the viewed plant parts under a microscope and discovered that plant parts are made of cells. He is considered to be the co-founder of cell theory together with Schwann, with whom he consulted.

Theodor Schwann (1839)

Schwann was a German Biologist who viewed animal parts under a microscope and discovered that animals were made up of cells. He extended Schleiden's cell theory in plants to animals, stating that all living things are composed of cells.

Rudolph Virchow (1855)

Virchow was a German physician that stated that all living cells come only from other living cells. His major contribution was the idea that pathologic reactions were reactions of cells.

The discovery of the cell was made possible by the invention of the microscope, which was made possible by improved lens-grinding techniques. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), a Dutch tradesman, learned to grind lenses and assemble them into simple microscopes. His contemporary Robert Hooke (1635-1703) used such an instrument to observe cork cells, sketches of which appeared in his 1665 publication "Micrographia." Inspired by Hooke's work, Leeuwenhoek began making microscopic examinations of his own. In 1678, he reported to the Royal Society that he had discovered "little animals" -- bacteria and protozoa -- in various samples. The society asked Hooke to confirm Leeuwenhoek's findings, and he did.

In 1678, Antoni van Leeuwenhook reported that he had observed "little animals" -- protozoa -- through a microscope.
This paved the way for wide acceptance that a hidden world existed just beyond the limits of human vision and encouraged many scientists to take up the microscope in their investigations. One such scientist was German botanist Matthias Jakob Schleiden (1804-1881), who looked at numerous plant samples. Schleiden was the first to recognize that all plants, and all the different parts of plants, are composed of cells. While having dinner with zoologist Theodor Schwann (1810-1882), Schleiden mentioned his idea. Schwann, who came to similar conclusions while studying animal tissues, quickly saw the implications of their work. In 1839, he published "Microscopic Investigations on the Accordance in the Structure and Growth of Plants and Animals," which included the first statement of the cell theory: All living things are made up of cells. Then, in 1858, Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) extended the work of Schleiden and Schwann by proposing that all living cells must rise from pre-existing cells. This was a radical idea at the time because most people, scientists included, believed that nonliving matter could spontaneously generate living tissue. The inexplicable appearance of maggots on a piece of meat was often given as evidence to support the concept of spontaneous generation. But a famous scientist by the name of Louis

Aaron Bell/Visuals Unlimited/Getty Images

Pasteur (1822-1895) set out to disprove spontaneous generation with a now-classic experiment that both firmly established the cell theory beyond doubt and solidified the basic steps of the modern scientific method.