Chapter 5 Flashcards
When was the word cell first used to refer to the microscopic units of life
1665 by British scientist Robert Hooke while he was looking at cork under a microscope
Who was the first person to observe cells?
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek
What is cell theory and who made it?
Theodor Schwann and Matthias Jakob Schleiden, to propose that cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. Around 1850, a German doctor named Rudolf Virchow was studying cells under a microscope when he happened to see them dividing and forming new cells. He realized that living cells produce new cells through division. Based on this realization, Virchow proposed that living cells arise only from other living cells.
The ideas of all three scientists — Schwann, Schleiden, and Virchow — led to cell theory, which is one of the fundamental theories unifying all of biology. Cell theory states that:
All organisms are made of one or more cells.
All the life functions of organisms occur within cells.
All cells come from already existing cells.
What is cell theory and who made it? (simple version)
Idea: All organisms are made of one or more cells, all cells come from existing cells, and all th life functions of organisms occur within the cell.
People: Theodor Schwann, Matthias Jakob Schleiden, and Rudolf Virchow.
Milestone in Microscope development:
Leeuwenhoek made his own microscope lenses that were very powerful.
1800’s light microscopes reach their limit.
1950’s electron microscope is created and spawns the field of molecular biology
What are the 4 structure shared by all cells?
Plasma membrane, cytoplasm, Ribosomes, and DNA
What is the plasma membrane?
a thin coat of lipids that surrounds a cell. It forms the physical boundary between the cell and its environment, so you can think of it as the “skin” of the cell.
Cytoplasm
Cytoplasm refers to all of the cellular material inside the plasma membrane. Cytoplasm is made up of a watery substance called cytosol and contains other cell structures such as ribosomes.
Ribosomes
Ribosomesare structures in the cytoplasm where proteins are made.
DNA
DNAis a nucleic acid found in cells. It contains the genetic instructions that cells need to make proteins.
Plasma Membrane
Theplasma membrane(also called the cell membrane) is a thin coat of lipids that surrounds a cell. It forms the physical boundary between the cell and its environment, so you can think of it as the “skin” of the cell.
Why are cells tiny?
To carry out life processes, a cell must be able to quickly pass substances into and out of the cell.
Anything that enters or leaves a cell must cross its outer surface. Itis this need to pass substances across the surface that limits how large a cell can be.
What is the nucleus of a cell?
A structure in the cytoplasm that is surrounded by a membrane (the nuclear membrane) and contains DNA.
Based on whether or not they have a nucleus, there are two basic types of cells: prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells.
What is a prokaryotic cell?
Cells without a nucleus
What type of organisms are prokaryotic cells found in?
SIngle-celled organisms.
The DNA is in the cytoplasm instead of a nucleus.
What are Eukaryotic cells?
Cells that contain a nucleus.
What are organisms with eukaryotic cells called?
Eukaryotes
What do eukaryotic cells contain beside a nucleus?
Organelles.
What is an organelle?
A structure within the cytoplasm that performs a specific function for the cell.
What is a mitochondria?
An organelle that provides energy to the cell?
What is a vacuole?
An organelle that stores substances in the cell.
Who can carry out more functions? Eukaryotes or Prokaryotes?
Eukaryotes because they have organelles to do jobs for them.
What is the correlation ebtween cell shape and cell function?
Cell shape impacts cell function and perhaps vice versa?
What is the Plasma Membrane?
A structure that forms a barrier between the cytoplasm inside the cell and the environment outside the cell.