The discovery of cells was made

possible by the development of the

microscope in the 17th century.
In 1665, an English scientist, Robert
Hooke, examined a thin slice of cork
under the microscope.
He observed that the piece of cork
was composed of many tiny
compartments which resembled little
rooms with surrounding wall.
Hooke named these
compartments cells. The cells
that Hooke observed were not
living.
Cellulae – Latin word for a “small
room.”
In 1674, the Dutch inventor
Antoine Van Leuwenhoek
observed red blood cells,
sperms and a myriad of single-
celled organisms in pond
water.
He discovered free cells and
observed the nucleus within
some red blood cells.
Over the next 200 years after Hooke,
another scientist, a Scottish botanist
named Robert Brown, made a general
conclusion in 1831.
He discovered the nucleus and
theorized that this structure is a
fundamental and a constant component
of the cell.
In 1835, a French biologist, Felix
Dujardin found out that living cells
contained an internal substance.
Not knowing exactly what this
substance was, Dujardin gave it
the name sarcode.
It was a Bohemian physiologist, Jan
Evangelista Purkinje, who made a
thorough investigation of this internal
material.
He gave it the name protoplasm, a term
coined for the colloidal substance in the
cell which is currently known as
cytoplasm.
oIn 1838, Matthias Schleiden, a
German botanist, stated that all plants
are composed of cells.
oAfter him, in 1839, Theodore
Schwann, a German zoologist,
concluded that all animals are
composed of cells.
• Twenty years later, in 1858, a
German biologist, Rudolph
Virchow, theorized that all living
cells come from pre-existing living
cells.
• His conclusion arose from observing
dividing cells while he was at work.
Today, we have the following profound
postulates about cells collectively
known as the Cell Theory:
1. All known living things are
made up of cells. The cell is
structural & functional unit of all
living things.
2. All cells come from pre-
existing cells by division.
• In 1852, Robert Remak (1815–1865), a
prominent neurologist and
embryologist, published convincing
evidence that cells are derived from
other cells as a result of cell division.
3. Cells contains
hereditary information
which is passed from cell
to cell during cell division.
4. All cells are basically
the same in chemical
composition.
5. All energy flow
(metabolism &
biochemistry) of life
occurs within cells.
All plant and animal cells, which
are eukaryote organisms, contain
a true nucleus bounded by a
nuclear membrane.
The nucleus is the storehouse of
genetic information in the form of
DNA inside the cells.
The cell membrane is double-
layered in animals, and forms
the outer cell boundary that
protects the cell contents and
regulates what goes in and out
of cells.
In plants, a plasma membrane
lies just underneath a rigid layer
(cell wall) that gives protection,
support and shape to the cell. In
plants and algae, the cell wall is
made up of polysaccharide
cellulose.
The cytoplasm fills the space
between the nucleus and the
cell membrane.
Cytosol is the fluid portion
consisting mainly of water and
excluding the organelles in it.
Endoplasmic reticulum. The
endoplasmic reticulum is an
extensive membrane complex
extending throughout the
cytoplasm from the outer
membrane of the nuclear
envelope.
Golgi Apparatus. Also called the Golgi
Complex or Golgi Body, this organelle
looks like a stack of flattened water
balloons.
It processes the proteins produced by the
endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes,
modifying and storing them until it
packages them in vesicles.
Lysosomes also come from
the Golgi apparatus.
These are sacs containing
enzymes capable of breaking
down cell macromolecules.
Vesicles are membranous sacs that
transport or store a variety of
compounds.
Vacuoles are fluid-filled sac for the
storage of materials needed by the cell
that includes water, food molecules,
inorganic ions, and enzymes. It is large
in plant cells.
Mitochondria are peanut-shaped
organelles found in both plants
and animals. The sites of cellular
respiration, they break down sugar
to fuel the cell.
Chloroplasts occur in plant
cells. They contain
chlorophylls, and photosynthesis
occurs within them, allowing plant
cells to form sugar from air and
water in the presence of light.
Lysosomes are round shaped,
membrane-bound structures
containing chemicals that can
break down damaged or worn out
cell. They contain powerful
enzymes that can defend a cell
from invading bacteria and viruses.
Peroxisomes are surrounded
by a single membrane
containing digestive enzymes
for breaking down toxic
materials.
Cytoskeleton is made up of a
small protein subunit, forming
long threads or fibers that can
crisscross the entire cell
providing sturdy mechanical
support.
Centrosome is a small
dense region of cytoplasm
that serves as the main
microtubule organizing
center.
Cilia and flagella are two
locomotory projections in
eukaryotes.
They allow the cell to move like an
oar or a whip. Cilia look like hairs
with much shorter length. Flagella,
on the other hand, look like a tail.