There is a difference between the living

TOK and the non-living environment. How are

we able to know the difference?

Cell Biology
1.1 – An Introduction to Cells
 Nature of Science

3.1 Looking for trends and discrepancies: although most organisms

conform to cell theory, there are exceptions

4.5 Ethical implications of research: research involving stem cells

is growing in importance and raises ethical issues
• According to the cell theory, living organisms are composed of cells.
• Organisms consisting of only one cell carry out all functions of life in that
cell.
• Surface area to volume ratio is important in the limitation of cell size.
• Multicellular organisms have properties that emerge from the interaction
of their cellular components.
• Specialized tissues can develop by cell differentiation in multicellular
organisms.
• Differentiation involves the expression of some genes and not others in
a cell’s genome.
• The capacity of stem cells to divide and differentiate along different pathways is
necessary in embryonic development and also makes stem cells suitable for
therapeutic uses.

Understanding
1.1. Outline the cell theory.
1.1. Discuss the evidence for the cell theory.
2
Refer to :microscopes, organelles (endosymbiont theory),
Pasteur
1.1. Discuss the exceptionsfor the cell theory.
2
Refer to atypical examples: striated muscle, giant algae
,and aseptate fungal hyphae
1.1. State that unicellular organisms carry out all the functions of
3
life.Nutrition, metabolism, growth, response, excretion,
homeostasis and reproduction
Investigation of functions of life in Paramecium and
Chlorella as a named photosynthetic unicellular organism
(avoid Euglena)
 2

1.1.4 Calculate the linear magnification of drawings and

the actual size of specimens in images of known
magnification.

Scale bars are useful as a way of indicating

actual sizes in drawings and micrographs.
3

1.1.5 Explain the importance of the surface area to

volume ratio as a factor limiting cell size.
 1

1.1.6 State that multicellular organisms show

emergent properties.
relate to interactions of cellular components
3

1.1.7 Explain that cells in multicellular organisms

differentiate to carry out specialized
functions by expressing some of their
genes but not others.
1

1.1.8 State that stem cells retain the capacity to

divide and have the ability to differentiate
along different pathways.
2

1.1.9 Outline two therapeutic use of stem cells.

Stargardt’s disease and another
Ethics of the therapeutic use of stem cells from specially created embryos, from the
umbilical cord blood of a new-born baby and from an adult’s own tissues.
 1.1.1
Out line the
cell theory

The Cell Theory

⚫ Who developed the cell theory?
– Matthias Schleiden (1838):
concluded that all plants are
composed of cells
– Theodor Schwann (1839):
concluded that all animals are
composed of cells
– Rudolph Virchow (1855):
determined that cells come
only from other cells
 1.1.1
Out line the
cell theory

The Cell Theory

⚫ What is the cell theory?
1. All living things are composed of one
or more cells
2. Cells are organisms’ basic units of
structure and function
3. Cells come only from pre-existing
cells
 1.1.2
Discuss the
evidence for
cell theory
Evidence for the cell theory
Microscopes:

•nothing smaller than a cell can survive independently

 Exceptions?

Aseptate?

Homework: Giant Algae??

 Exceptions
Aseptate Fungal Hyphae
⚫ challenges the idea that a cell is
a single unit.
⚫ very large with many nuclei and
a continuous cytoplasm
⚫ The tubular system of hyphae
form dense networks called
mycelium
⚫ Like muscle cells they are multi-
nucleated
⚫ They have cell walls composed
of chitin
⚫ The cytoplasm is continuous
along the hyphae with no end
cell wall or membrane
Striated Muscle
⚫ challenges the idea that a cell
has one nucleus
⚫ more than one nucleus per cell
⚫ Muscle Cells called fibres can
be very long (300mm)
⚫ They are surrounded by a
single plasma membrane but
they are multi-nucleated (many
nuclei).
⚫ This does not conform to the
standard view of a small single
nuclei within a cell
 1.1.2
State that
unicellular
Functions of Life organisms carry
out all functions of
life
 1.1.3
State that
unicellular
Functions of Life organisms carry
out all functions of
life

Watch this animation and

state the functions of life
exhibited by this
paramecium.
Investigate the functions of life of the following unicellular
organisms:
Cell Diversity
⚫ Size
⚫ Shape
⚫ Internal Organization

1.1.3
State that unicellular
organisms carry out allof
the functions of life.
 Smallest Cells:

Cell Diversity- Size

Biggest Cells:
Longest Cells: 6 inches long, 5 inches wide, 3 pounds

Ostrich Egg
Cell Diversity-
Size
(get an idea!)
Magnification: is how many times the image is enlarged /
Size of the image

Resolution is defined as the shortest distance between two

points that can be distinguished

separate points / focus clearly / greater detail / clarity

Uses visible
white light

Have
we
seen
that!

Low resolution ~ Magnifies up to 1000X

200nm
 can see
viruses
Uses electron beam (0.1μm
diameter)
SPACE! Black
and
white!
But
higher
resolutio
n!

Acinar
High resolution ~ 1nm cell
allow us to see the ultrastructure of cells (biological
specimen that are at least 0.1nm in their smallest dimension)
1.1.5

Cells and Sizes

⚫ Magnification =
size of image
divided by the
size of the
specimen
1.1.5
Surface Area to Volume Ratio
As the cell gets larger the SA:V gets smaller

SA = 6lw
V = lwh
SA = 6 mm2
V = 1 mm3
SA/V = 6:1 SA = 24 mm2
V = 8 mm3
SA/V = 3:1

SA = 96 mm2
V increases faster than SA
V = 64 mm3
SA/V = 1.5:1
 Cell Diversity- Shape
⚫ Cells differ widely in shape.
⚫ Most cells are roughly
cuboidal or spherical.
1.1.6 Multi-cellular organisms show
emergent properties
⚫ Emergent properties arise from the
interaction of the component parts - ‘the
whole is greater than the sum of the
parts'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
7xpONWAj4Go
 Cells
1.1.7
Differentiate
1.1.8 Stem cells : What they are and
1.1.9
therapeutic uses
• Totipotent stem cells can
become any cell in the
human body & placenta.
(Morula)
• Pluripotent stem cells
make any differentiated cell
in the body (but probably
not those of the placenta).
(germ layers)
• Multipotent stem cells can
only differentiate into a
limited number of types.
⚫ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4
nqw1yjyKEsfw5en2MEM&feature=re
lated
http://outreach.mcb.harvard.edu/animations/thera7c.swf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olJ6sYfK8qY

Treatment for Leukemia

Problem - Cancer of blood/ bone marrow
- Abnormal high levels of poor
functioning WBC
Treatment - Chemotherapy /radiotherapy
- Destroy WBC
- Bone marrow transplant/ healthy WBC
Role of stem cells - Hematopoetic stem cells (HSCs) can
be harvested from bone marrow /
umbilical cord
- These CAN differentiate into different
types of WBC, so they can be used to
repopulate the bone marrow
- Immune rejection??
Resource: Wikipedia?
The Latest Developments in Stem Cell Therapy for Macular
Disease
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=zPvaVLNrvrc

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-
15025009
 Stargardt’s Disease

Treatment for Leukemia

Problem

Treatment

Role of stem cells

 Stargardt's macular dystrophy
(SMD)

The • Affects around one in 10,000 children

problem • Recessive genetic (inherited) condition
• The mutation causes an active transport protein on photoreceptor
cells to malfunction
• The photoreceptor cells degenerate
• the production of a dysfunctional protein that cannot perform energy
transport
• that causes progressive, and eventually total, loss of central vision
The • Embryonic stem cells are treated to divide and differentiate to
treatment become retinal cells
• The retinal cells are injected into the retina
• The retinal cells attach to the retina and become functional
• Central vision improves as a result of more functional retinal cells
The future • This treatment is still in at the stage of limited clinical trials, but will
likely be in usage in the future
⚫ The idea that all living things are
composed of cells and that all cells
come from other cells defines:

A) central dogma.
B) the laws of inheritance.
C) organelle theory.
D) cell theory.
E) inheritance of acquired
characteristics.
⚫ As cell size increases, the

A) volume and surface area decrease.

B) volume increases faster than the
surface area.
C) surface area increases faster than
the volume.
D) surface area and volume increase at
the same rate.
E) None of the choices are correct.
⚫ Which one of the following cells
would have the greatest surface-to-
volume ratio?

A) bacterium
B) human red blood cell
C) human muscle cell
D) frog egg
E) ostrich egg
⚫TOK: Where do you stand in the
debate about the nature of stem cell
research?
Drawings in IB Biology
Giant Algae (Acetabularia) is a single-celled organism that
challenges both the idea that cells must be simple in structure and
small in size
- Gigantic in size (5 – 100mm)
- Complex in form, it consists of three anatomical parts:
• Bottom rhizoid (that resembles a set of short roots )
• Long stalk
• Top umbrella of branches that may fuse into a cap
• The single nucleus is located in the rhizoid