• A cell is the structural and functional unit of all life forms.
• All living organisms, whether plants or animals, are made up of microscopic units called cells.
• The cell occupies the same central position in biology as the atom in the physical sciences.
• Organisms may be broadly classified into two kinds:
– Unicellular
– Multi-cellularIt was the British botanist Robert Hooke who, in 1665, while examining a slice of bottle cork under a microscope, found its structure resembling the box-like living quarters of the monks in a monastery, and coined the word “cells”
Some Facts about Cells
• • The word cell is derived from the
Latin word “cellula” which means “a
little room”
•
• • It was the British botanist Robert
Hooke who, in 1665, while examining
a slice of bottle cork under a
microscope,
structure
resembling
living
quarters of the monks in a monastery,
and coined the word “cells”
found
the
its
box-like
Some Facts about Cells
• • The Dutch scientist A.V.
in 1674,
Leeuwenhoek,
the minute
discovered
forms of
life such as
bacteria and single celled
animals in a drop of water
• • In 1831, Robert Brown
discovered the nucleus in
the cell
• •
In
the year 1838,
Matthias Schleiden,
a
German botanist, first
proposed the idea that all
plants consist of cells
Some Facts about Cells
• • In 1839, Theodor Schwann,
another German botanist, asserted
that all plants and animals are
made up of cells
• • J.E. Purkinje, in 1839, used the
term protoplasm to describe the
juicy, slimy gelatinous contents of
the cell
• • In 1885, Rudolf Virchow
expressed that all cells arise from
pre-existing cells
Some Facts about Cells
• • In 1940, two German Scientists, Ruska and Knoll,
invented the electron microscope
• • Man is estimated to have about 100 trillion (1014 ) cells
in number
• • The cells that make up our body are so small that you
could fit over 200 of them on the full stop at the end of
this sentence.
Cells: An Introduction
• • A cell is the structural and functional unit of all life forms.
• • All living organisms, whether plants or animals, are made up of
microscopic units called cells.
• • The cell occupies the same central position in biology as the
atom in the physical sciences.
• • Organisms may be broadly classified into two kinds:
• – Unicellular
• – Multi-cellular
Cells: An Introduction
• • All living beings, plants and animals, start their life with
a single cell.
• • Some organisms exist as a single cell and carry out the
various metabolic life processes such as assimilation,
respiration, reproduction, excretion, etc., that are
essential for their survival.
• • These are known as unicellular organisms.
• • Example: Yeast, bacteria, chlamydomonas, amoeba
Some Unicellular Organisms
Amoeba
Paramecium
Chlamydomona
Cells: An Introduction
• • Some cells divide and give rise to organisms with more
than one cell, these organisms are termed as multi-
cellular.
• • Example: animals, humans, most plants
Some Multi-cellular
Organisms
Cells from the cheek
Structure of a Cell
• • Cells vary in shape and size. They may be oval,
spherical, rectangular, polygonal, spindle shaped, star
shaped, rod-shaped or totally irregular like the nerve cell.
• • The diversity in cells is in accordance with the role or
function it has to perform as part of the tissue or organ
system.
• • In general, there is no typical shape for cells.
Various Cells from the
Human Body
Structure of a Cell
• • Each cell has got certain specific components within it
known as cell organelles, each of which performs a special
function
• • A cell is able to live and perform all its functions
because of these organelles
• • These organelles together constitute the basic unit
called the cell • All cells have the same organelles, no
matter what their function is or what organism they are
found in
Structure of a Cell
• • There are three features in almost every cell:
• – Plasma Membrane
• – Nucleus
• – Cytoplasm
• • All activities inside the cell and interactions of the cell
with its environment are possible due to these features
Plasma Membrane or Cell
Membrane
• • Cell membrane is present in both plant and animal cells.
• • It is living, elastic and made of proteins and lipids (fats).
• • Its function is to provide a mechanical barrier for the
protection of the inner cell contents and to regulate the
movement of molecules in and out of the cell.
• • It is called a selectively permeable membrane
Cell Wall
• • The cell wall is present only in plant cells and lies
outside the plasma membrane
• • It is made up of a complex polysaccharide
(carbohydrate) called cellulose.
• • Its function is to give strength and rigidity to the cell. It
is non-living.
• • Cell walls permit the cells of plants, fungi and bacteria
to withstand hypotonic external media without bursting
Nucleus
• • This is a prominent, spherical or oval structure found at
the centre of the cell.
• • It is the controlling centre of all cell activities and has
been described as the brain of the cell.
• • It regulates all metabolic and hereditary activities of the
cell
• • It also plays a central role in cellular reproduction - the
process by which a single cell divides and forms two new
cells