Cell Biology Introduction Flashcards
Why is cell biology important ?
- medicine:cellular defects
- agriculture: growth and productivity
- industry: many industries use cells
- environment: many environmental process include cells
What are the 4 main paradigms (theories) of cell biology?
- all living organisms are made of cells
- the cell is the smallest structure that can live
- the structure of the cell is correlated to its function
- all cells are related to their mother cells
What did Robert Hooke (1665) do?
Hooks in 1665 first described cells. He described a slither of cork
What did Robert Brown (1833) do?
Brown first described the cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming in orchids
What did schleiden, swann and virshow (1938) do?
They devised the concept of ‘the cell: the unit of life’
Explain the concept of ‘the cell: the unit of life’ by schleiden, swann and virshow (1938)
- smallest organism the can replicated independently using own resources
- basic structural units of all living organisms
- able to grow, take up and transform substances from the environment
- in any organism, all cells derived form a single cell
From what materials did cells evolve?
- lipids
- amino acids
- fatty acids
- nucleotides
Where did the ‘chemicals of life’ come from?
All living organisms are composed of the same chemical elements as the non-biological matter. The only difference is that the atomic arrangement of these chemicals in living organisms is different
Name the 3 origin of life theories
- spontaneous generation
- life arrived from another planet
- life began in water
How may have life originated from another planet?
Meteorites containing D amino acids, nucleotides and sugars were found on earth
When thinking about life beginning in water, what did Oparin and Haldane say?
The building blocks of cells may have originated from primitive earth atmosphere containing methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water
What was Oparin and Haldane’s origin of life theory based on?
The Urey-miller experiment - tested hypothesis in 1952
Explain the results from the Urey-Miller experiment
The condensate contained amino acids obtained from methane, hydrogen and water
In 1972 how did Stanley Miller alter the Urey-Miller experiment?
He added CO2, SO2, N2, HS2
Getting the products: All 5 bases (ATCGU) All 20 amino acids Many sugars Certain fatty acids Vitamin B6 Nicotinamide Carboxylic acids
What were the products of chemical polymerisation?
- amino acids polymerised into proteins
- nucleotides polymerised into DNA and RNA
- fatty acids produced membranes
