A Preview of Cell Biology Flashcards
What is resolving power or resolution?
ability to see fine detail
What is the cell theory?
- all organisms consist of one or more cells
- the cell is the basic unit of structure for all organisms
- all cells arise from preexisting cells
What is cytology?
focuses mainly on cellular structure and emphasizes optical techniques
What is biochemistry?
focuses on cellular structure and function
What is Genetics?
focuses on information flow and heredity and includes sequencing of the entire genome in numerous organisms
what are the units for cell biology?
- micrometer - 10^-6
- nanometer - 10^-9
- angstron - 0.1nm
What is a light microscope?
also called brightfieqld microscopy b/c white light is passed directly through a specimen
What is the limit of resolution?
how far apart objects must be to appear as distinct
What is an antibody?
a protein that binds to a particular target molecule (antigen)
What is green fluorescent protein used to study?
the temporal and spatial distribution of proteins in a living cell
What is digital video microscopy?
uses video cameras to collect digital images
What does the electron microscope do?
uses a beam of electrons rather than light
the limit resolution is about 100 times better than light microscopes
the magnification is much higher than light microscopes - up to 100,000x
What happens in transmission electron microscopy?
electrons are transmitted through a specimen
What happens in scanning electron microscopy?
the surface of a specimen is scanned by detecting electrons deflected from the outer surface
What is sub cellular fractionation?
uses centrifugation to separate/isolate different structures and macromolecules
What is chromatography?
technique used to separate molecules from a solution based on size, charge or chemical affinity
what is electrophoresis?
uses an electric field to move proteins, DNA, or RNA molecules through a medium based on size/charge
What is mass spectrometry?
used to determine the size and composition of individual proteins
what is reverse transcriptase?
an enzyme that uses viral RNA to synthesize complementary DNA
What is recombinant DNA technology?
uses restriction enzymes to cut DNA at specific places, allowing scientists to create recombinant DNA molecules with DNA from different sources
What is DNA transformation?
prices of introducing DNA into cells
What is bioinformatics?
merges computer science with biology to organize and interpret enormous amounts of sequencing and other data
What is genomics?
study of all genes of an organisms
What is proteomics?
the study of the functions and interactions of all proteins present in a particular call
