B1: 1.1-1.4 Flashcards
Three key ideas of Cell Theory:
- Cells are the structural building blocks of all living things.
- Smallest independent units of life.
3 Cells are formed from other pre-existing cells through mitosis/meiosis.
Striated Muscle Cells
Irregular sizes- up to 30cm long, to stretch entire length of muscle.
Has between 2-150 nuclei.
Aseptate Fungal Hyphae
not divided into cell sections- joins into one uninterrupted tube with many nuclei spread along it.
Giant Algai
Unicellular organism 10cm in size.
Two additional points to cell theory:
- Genetic material stores instructions for the cell’s functions.
- Cells are the sites of the chemical reactions for life.
Functions of Life
Metabolism Response Sensitivity Growth Reproduction Excretion Nutrition
Metabolism
The speed at which reactions take place within an organism.
Response
How an organism reacts to stimuli.
Sensitivity/Homeostasis
Maintaining an internal environment suitable for all of the processes necessary for survival.
Growth
Multicellular= the whole organism grows larger. Unicellular= whole cell grows larger until it divides.
Reproduction
sexual/asexual division.
Excretion
Removal of poisonous waste.
Nutrition
The absorption of nutrients from food in order to release energy necessary for bodily processes.
Metabolism:
Paramecium + Chlamydomonas
Chemical reactions take place in the Cytoplasm, with enzymes in place to speed them up.
Response:
Paramecium + Chlamydomonas
P: Cilia. Used to move the cell along.
C: The Flagella are used to propel the cell, and a light sensitive ‘eyespot’ allows them to sense the brightest light and move towards it.
Sensitivity:
Paramecium + Chlamydomonas
P: Has a Contractile Vacuole that manages water content.
C: Contractile Vacuoles at the base of the Flagella store water.
Growth:
Paramecium + Chlamydomonas
P: Consumes/ assimilates biomass until it is large enough to divide.
C: Photosynthesis occurs inside Chloroplasts in the Cytoplasm. Here CO2 can be converted into the compounds necessary for growth. However, in dark conditions carbon compounds are sometimes absorbed from other organisms.
Reproduction:
Paramecium + Chlamydomonas
Divide by Mitosis.
Excretion:
Paramecium + Chlamydomonas
P: Plasma Membrane controls what leaves the cell
C: Cell Wall is freely permeable, Membrane controls flow in and out of cell. Oxygen is excreted out after photosynthesis
Nutrition:
Paramecium + Chlamydomonas
P: Nutrition: Food Vacuoles store the consumed organisms.
C: Carries out photosynthesis.
Paramecium _ _, Chlorella has _, so does not.
Ingests food.
Chloroplasts.
The rate of metabolism…
…is proportional to the volume of the cell.
In metabolism, if the SA of a cell is too small…
> substances will not enter the cell quickly enough to keep up the pace of metabolism, and waste products will be produced more rapidly than they can be excreted.
the cell may overheat because the metabolism produces heat faster than it can be lost over the cell’s surface.
Volvox Aureus
> Volvox Aureus colonies consist of a ball of protein gel with 500+ identical cells attached to its surface.
Daughter cells form inside them.
The cells cooperate, but are not fused together to form a single cell mass, so are not a single organism- therefore are unicellular.
Multicellular Organisms
Organisms consisting of a single mass of cells, fused together.
Caenorhabditis Elegans (C. Elegans)
> A type of worm with only 959 cells.
Lives in decomposing organic matter.
Feeds on the bacteria that cause decomposition.
Has a mouth, pharynx, intestine and anus.
Hermaphroditic.
Cells are cooperative groups rather than having specific cells that organise the system.
Emergent Properties
> Characteristics of the whole organism, including the fact that it is alive.
They arise from the interactions of the component parts of a complex structure, and can be summed up with the phrase ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.
Tissue
A layer of the same specialised cells that have come together. Form the ideal structure and contain all of the enzymes needed to carry out that cell’s chemical reactions.
Differentiation
The development of cells in different ways to perform specific functions.
Properties of Stem Cells
> Can divide countless times to produce a large mass of tissue. > Useful for the replacement of damaged cells.
They are not fully differentiated.
Possible Therapeutic uses of Stem Cells
> Produce regenerated tissue for burn sufferers.
Healing Type 1 diabetes, where a specific cell has stopped functioning.
Growing whole replacement organs.
Possible Non-Therapeutic use of Stem Cells
Production of large amounts of striated muscle fibres (meat) for human consumption.
Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy
> genetic disease that develops in children aged between 6 and 12.
Caused by recessive mutation of gene ABCA4. This causes a protein used for active transport in retina cells to malfunction. Photoreceptive cells in the retina disintegrate and vision is lost.
By injecting embryonic stem cells into the eyes of humans and mice, vision was improved without any harmful side-effects.
Leukaemia
> form of cancer that develops in white blood cells in bone marrow.
Unlike other cancers, this means it is not contained in one part of the body, and to cure it all of the white blood cells have to be destroyed. > This can not be done under normal circumstances as white blood cells are vital for survival.
Stem Cell Treatment for Leukaemia
- A needle is inserted to a large bone (pelvis) and fluid is removed from the bone marrow.
- Adult Stem Cells are extracted from this fluid and frozen. They are only capable of producing blood cells.
- A high dose of chemotherapy is given to the patient in order to kill the cancer cells in the bone marrow. Loses its ability to produce blood cells.
The frozen stem cells are then returned to the body. They re-establish themselves and start to produce red and white blood cells.
Embryonic Stem Cells
> Almost unlimited growth potential.
Can differentiate into any cell type in the body.
More risk of becoming tumour cells than with adult stem cells, including teratomas that contain different tissue types.
Less chance of genetic damage due to the accumulation of mutations than with adult cells.
Likely to be genetically different from an adult patient receiving the tissue.
Removal of cells from the embryo kills it, unless only one or two cells are taken.
Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells
> Easily obtained and stored.
Commercial collection and storage services already available.
Fully compatible with the tissues of the adult that grows from the baby, so no rejection problems occur.
Limited capacity to differentiate into different cell types- only naturally develop into blood cells, but research may lead to the production of other types.
Limited quantities of stem cells from each cord.
The umbilical cord is discarded whether or not stem cells are taken from it.
Adult Stem Cells
> Difficult to obtain as there are very few of them and they are deep in tissues.
Less growth potential than embryonic stem cells.
Less chance of malignant tumours developing than from embryonic stem cells.
Limited capacity to differentiate.
Fully compatible with the tissues of the adult that grows from the baby, so no rejection problems occur.
Removal of stem cells does not kill the adult from which they are taken.
Light Microscope
> Maximum resolution is 0.2µm (micrometres)
Limited by the wavelength of light (400-700nm)
Any smaller than this and the image will be blurred.
Max magnification x400.
What is the smallest resolution captured by the human eye?
0.1mm
Resolution
Making the separate parts of an object distinguishable by eye.
Why do electron microscopes have a higher resolution?
Because they have a shorter wavelength.
Electron Microscope
> Max resolution 0.001 micrometers- 200x greater than light Microscope.
Light Microscopes reveal the _ of cells,
Electron Microscope reveal the _ of cells.
Structure
Ultrastructure.
Eukaryotes
Have a compartment within the cell that contains the chromosomes (the nucleus).
Bound by a nuclear envelope consisting of a double layer of membrane.
Prokaryotes
> Do not have a nucleus.
Earlest organisms.
Simples cell structure- small in size and found everywhere.
Have cell walls containing peptidoglycan.
Extracellular.