CELL THEORY

-CELL was discovered by ROBERT HOOKE in 1665. He paved the paved the way to the
discovery of the cell using a crude microscope, he examined a little piece of cork and found little
structures in it which he compared to CELLULAE (Latin for “LITTLE ROOMS”).
The first sight of the NATURE OF CELLS is in the LATE 1600s, when DUTCH
SCIENTIST ANTON VAN LEEUWENHOEK examined different subjects, using a more
refined microscope than that of hooke. Leeuwenhoek found moving protists, which he had then
referred to as ANIMAL CULES.
CELL THEORY: DEFINITION
The cell theory, developed in the MID-1800s as a result of the various discoveries about
cells, is one of the basic principles of biology. Generally, it states the following three
fundamental postulates:
1. THE CELL IS THE BASIC UNIT OF LIFE
2. ALL LIVING ORGANISMS ARE COMPOSED OF CELLS
3. NEW CELLS ARE CREATED FROM PREEXISTING CELLS
First postulate
this explains that in order that an organism may be considered living, it must have a cell.
Some organisms may be unicellular or one-celled, such as bacteria, or multicellular or multi-
celled, such as animals. One proof that an organism is alive just by looking at its cell is the
movement of the organelles inside it.
Second postulate
The declaration that all living organisms are made up of cells was a collaboration
between German botanist Matthias Jacob Schleiden and physiologist Theodor Schwann.
Schleiden recognized Robert Brown’s discovery of the nucleus in 1833. In 1838, Schleiden
established that the small compartments in his plant specimens are cells. He discussed his
observations with his colleague, Schwann. After doing microscopic studies of animal cells,
correlated his results with those of Schleiden’s.
Third postulate
Based on the cell studies of the scientists before him, German scientist Rudolf Virchow
introduced the third postulate of the cell theory: Omnis cellula e cellula, which means “Cells
come from preexisting cells”. This elucidates that cells can only be formed by the union of male
and female cells, or the division of a single cell. It disproved the archaic theory of spontaneous
generation, which promoted the concept that living things generated from nonliving matter.
Development of Cell Theory
Aside from hooke, leeuwenhoek, Schleiden, and Virchow, many other scientists work on
the study of cells which led to the development of the cell theory. In this timeline, we shall
recognize these individuals and their contributions.
1590 Dutch spectacle maker Zacharias Janssen invented a primitive microscope with the
help of his father, Hans.
1663-1665 Robert Hooke used Janssen’s type of microscope.
1665-1676 Italian scientist Marcello Malpighi and English botanist Nehemiah Grew
conducted separated investigation on the plant cells organelles.
1670-1683 Anton van Leeuwenhoek upgraded Janssen’s microscope and produce his own
lens. It could magnify objects up to 270x diameters. He also discovered the mobile organelles
which he called animalcules.
1831 Scottish botanist Robert Brown discovered the nucleus. This became a major
breakthrough in the history of biology.
1838 Matthias Schleiden writes the Contribution to phytogenisis, then he proposed that the
different structures of a plant are all composed of cells.
1839 Prompted by his discussion with Schleiden, Theodor Schwann declared that animals
are likewise composed of cells. This put to an end to the debates whether or not plants and
animals are different in structural origin and composition.
1840 With the aid of a more powerful microscopes, Swiss Embryologist Albrecht von
Roelliker stated that sperm and egg are composed of cells. This initiated the idea that most life
forms are made up of cells and gave the scientific community a flourishing understanding of
biology.
1849 White French microbiologist louis Pasteur was developing fermentation, a process to
kill bacteria, he proved that bacteria are able to multiply and that bacteria’s cells come from other
bacteria cells.
1858 Basing on the data of the previous studies and his own observations on cells, Rudolf
Virchow declared, “Omnis cellula e cellula”, which meant that cells come from preexisting cells.
With this conclusion, the cell theory was completed.
MICROSCOPY
Microscopy started in the 14th century in Italy, where the team of Hans and Zacharias
Janssen assembled an apparatus by placing two lenses in one tube. This instrument became the
precursor of both the telescope and the microscope. There are three types of microscope, the
following are:
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (TEM)
By ERNST RUSKA and MAX KNOLL, 1931. Unlike the previous microscopes, this
relied on electrons and not on light.
PHASE CONTRAST MICROSCOPE (PCM)
By FRITZ ZERNIKE, 1932. developed the PCM that enabled the imaging of
transparent specimens.
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (SEM)
By RUSKA, 1942. Designed the first SEM which transmitted a beam of electron across
the specimen’s surface.