Topic 1.

1
Cell Theory
Nature of science

Looking for trends and discrepancies—although most

organisms conform to cell theory, there are exceptions.
(3.1)

Ethical implications of research—research involving stem

cells is growing in importance and raises ethical issues.
(4.5)
“Omnis cellula e cellula”
R. Virchow, 1855
Cell theory:
• All living organisms are composed of cells.
• Cells are the smallest unit of life.
• Cells come from pre-existing cells.
Cell theory:
• All living organisms are composed of cells.
• Cells are the smallest unit of life.
• Cells come from pre-existing cells.
but:
Cell theory:
• All living organisms are composed of cells.
• Cells are the smallest unit of life.
• Cells come from pre-existing cells.
but:
a)some cells (e.g. aseptate fungal hyphae and striated muscle
cells) have many nuclei,
b)giant algae (Acetabularia) grow up to 100mm
c)erythrocytes have no nuclei
d)slime moulds can consist of strands of protoplasm with
many nuclei
Cells tend to be small - notes on magnifications etc.
metric SI units

1 m (metre)
1 m = 10 dm (decimetre)
1 m = 100 cm (centimetre)
1 m = 1.000 mm (millimetre)
1 m = 1.000.000 µm (micrometre)
1 m = 1.000.000.000 nm (nanometre)
SI units – factors and prefixes
factor prefix
106 mega-
103 kilo-
10-1 deci-
10-2 centi-
10-3 milli-
10-6 micro-
10-9 nano-
10-12 pico-
metric SI units - exercise
5 mm = …. cm
2 cm = …. mm
3 mm = …. µm
2000 µm = .…mm
2000 µm = …. cm
10 µm = …. nm
50 nm = …. µm
2500 nm = …. µm
4 cm = …. nm
 Linear Magnification - exercises

1. The image of a 10nm thick membrane is

magnified 10,000 times. What is the thickness
of the membrane in the image?
2. In an image a cell measures 6 cm. The
magnification is 300 times. What is the actual
size of the cell?
3. A 10 nm thick membrane has a thickness of
1.2 cm in an image. What is the magnification
of this image?
scale bars
Magnification can be calculated using a scale bar.
Scale bar
1.Measure the scale bar image (beside drawing) in
mm.
2.Convert to µm (multiply by 1000).
3.Magnification = scale bar image divided by
actual scale bar length (written on the scale bar).
Organisms consisting of only one cell carry out all
functions of life in that cell.
Organisms consisting of only one cell carry out all
functions of life in that cell.

Nutrition – obtaining food, creating organic molecules

Metabolism – the biochemical reactions that maintain life
Growth – increasing in size
Response – reacting to stimuli
Excretion – getting rid of waste
Homeostasis – maintaining a stable internal environment
Reproduction –binary fission (prokaryotes) / single celled
eukaryotes reproduce generally asexually, however some
can also reproduce sexually through meiosis and then
mitosis
Paramecium
a)macronucleus expresses the genes
b)micronuclei contain the genetic material that is passed on
asexually
c)cilia used for movement
d)contractile vacuole for osmoregulation
e)metabolism catalysed by enzymes in the cytoplasm
f)ingest food
g)food vacuoles digest the food using enzymes
h)undigested remains are egested
i)extracellular glycoprotein matrix provides support
j)excretion of waste through diffusion.
Chlorella
a)contains one chloroplasts
b)DNA contained in nucleus, which controls cellular activities
c)exchanges CO2, O2 etc. through diffusion
d)metabolism catalysed by enzymes in cytoplasm &
chloroplasts
e)cell wall provides support
A cell‘s size does not affect its ability to have many
processes taking place in it.

However, unicellular (single celled) organisms can not

grow beyond a certain size, yet they carry out all the
functions of life.

For still growing to greater sizes, cells may flatten or have

protrusions.

Why?
 surface area to volume ratio

cube
length of
sides / cm 1 10 100
surface area
/ cm² 6 600 60000
volume /
cm³ 1 1000 1000000
ratio 6:1 0.6:1 0.06:1
The smaller the surface area to volume ratio the less surface area
is available for the exchange of substances and energy.
The size of cells is limited!
Cells are not able to grow beyond a certain size
because all metabolism in the cell depends upon
the exchange of substances and energy with its
environment. For that exchange to occur
sufficiently fast, the surface area to volume ratio
must not be too small.
The size of cells is limited!
The rate of heat production/waste
production/resource consumption of a cell is a
function of its volume,
whereas the rate of exchange of materials and
energy (heat) is a function of its surface area.
A small ratio means that per volume unit
there is little surface area available for this
exchange to take place.
multicellular organisms

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.
Examples of specialized cells are:

epithelia cells
nerve cells (e.g. neurons)
palisade cells
mesophyll cells
Cell theory: emergent properties
Multicellular organisms show emergent properties, which
arise from the interaction of component parts.

25
Cell theory: emergent properties
Multicellular organisms show emergent properties, which
arise from the interaction of component parts.

26
Cell theory: emergent properties
Multicellular organisms show emergent properties, which
arise from the interaction of component parts.

27
Cell theory: emergent properties
Multicellular organisms show emergent properties, which
arise from the interaction of component parts.

28
Cell theory: emergent properties
Multicellular organisms show emergent properties, which
arise from the interaction of component parts.

We can do weightlifting, maintain homoestasis ect. because

the parts of body work together. No single component of the
human body could perform these by itself. 29
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.
Stargardt’s disease

a)one in 10,000 people,

b)recessive genetic condition,
c)central vision loss early in life,
d)degeneration of photoreceptors in the retina,
e)human embryonic stems cell trained to become retinal cells,
f)retinal cells are implanted (injected) to become part of retina
and so restore vision
g)treatment currently still under development
leukemia

a)
Ethics

a)therapeutic use of stem cells from specially created embryos

b)therapeutic use of stem cells from the umbilical cord blood of a
new-born baby
c)therapeutic use of stem cells from an adult’s own tissues
In multicellular organisms cells
are organized into -
tissues – a group of similar cells performing a
particular task (blood, epithelia tissue, xylem, phloem)
which form -
organs – a structure composed of different tissues
fulfilling a function (the heart, leaves of plants)
which make up -
organ systems – a combination of organs working
together. (the circulatory system)
IB
Biology
IB
Biology
IB
Biology