Cell- The Fundamental unit of Life

While inspecting a slight cut of stopper, Robert Hooke saw that the plug took after the construction of a honeycomb comprising numerous little compartments. He alluded to these cases as Cells which is a Latin word for ‘a little room’. The cell is the basic structural, functional, and biological unit of all known organisms. It is the smallest unit of life. 

The Cell Theory

• Schleiden (1838) and Schwann (1839) stated that each one of the plants and animals are composed of cells and that the cell is the basic unit of life
• Virchow (1855) further expanded by suggesting that all cells arise from pre-existing cells

The following are some of the points made by the cell theory;

• All organisms have cells in their bodies
• Existing cells give rise to new cells
• All organisms have cells as structural units
• All biological functions are carried out by cells
• People were unaware that living organisms were made up of building blocks like cells before the discovery of the cell

Organization and Structure of the Cell:

• A single cell may constitute a whole organism as in Amoeba, Chlamydomonas, Paramoecium and bacteria.These life forms are alluded to as unicellular living beings (uni = single)
• Some organisms can also have cells of different kinds having different functions like some fungi, plants, and animals. These organisms are called multicellular organisms (multi = many)
• The shape and size of cells are associated with the specific function they perform
• Some cells like Amoeba have changing shapes
• In some cases, the cell shape could be more or less fixed and peculiar for a particular type of cell. For instance, nerve cells have a typical shape

Prokaryotic cells v/s Eukaryotic cells

• Prokaryotes are organisms without a nuclear membrane in their cells
• Eukaryotes are organisms that have a nuclear membrane in their cells
• In addition, prokaryotic cells lack the majority of the cytoplasmic organelles found in eukaryotic cells
• Many of the functions of these organelles are also carried out by poorly organised cytoplasmic parts
• In photosynthetic prokaryotic bacteria, chlorophyll is associated with membranous vesicles (bag-like structures), rather than plastids, as in eukaryotic cells

Cell organelles

• Every cell has specific explicit parts among it known as cell organelles
• Every sort of cell organelle fills an exceptional role, such as making new material within the cell, clearing up the waste material from the cell and so on
• A cell can live and perform all its functions because of these organelles
• These organelles together constitute the basic unit referred to as the cell
• The various types of cell organelles found in cells are:

1. Nucleus
2. Endoplasmic Reticulum
3. Ribosome
4. Golgi apparatus
5. Lysosomes
6. Mitochondria
7. Plastids
8. Vacuoles

• The three features found in almost every cell are plasma membrane, nucleus, and cytoplasm.

Plant cell vs Animal cell

• The cell membrane, nucleus, mitochondria, and vacuoles are all structures that plant and animal cells have in common
• Plants have cell walls and chloroplasts that are unique to them

The following are some of the most significant structural differences between plant and animal cells:

• Animal cells do not have a cell wall, unlike plant cells. Plants rely on their cell walls for support and form
• Chloroplasts are present in plant cells but not in animal cells. Plants use chloroplasts to produce food through photosynthesis
• Plant cells typically have one or more large vacuoles, whereas animal cells, if they have any, have smaller vacuoles. Large vacuoles aid in the formation of the plant’s shape and allow it to store water and nutrients. Animal cells have a lower storage function, so vacuoles are less important

Plasma membrane or cell membrane: 

• It is the outermost covering of the cell that separates the contents of the cell from its external environment
• The plasma membrane is flexible and is made up of organic molecules called lipids and proteins
• Plasma membrane is a selectively permeable membrane. It not only allows but also prevents the movement of some other materials. It involves processes like Diffusion and Osmosis
• Endocytosis: The flexibility of the cell membrane enables the cell to engulf in food and other material from its external environment. Such processes are known as endocytosis Amoeba acquires its food through such processes

Cell Division

New cells are formed in organisms so as to grow, to replace old, dead and injured cells, and to form gametes required for reproduction. The method by which new cells are made is called cell division. There are two main types of cell division: mitosis and meiosis.

• Mitosis: It is the method of cell division by which most of the cells divide for development and fix of tissues in organic entities
• Each cell called mother cell divides to form two identical daughter cells
• The daughter cells have the same number of chromosomes as mother cell
• Meiosis: Explicit cells of conceptive organs or tissues in creatures and plants separation to frame gametes, which after preparation lead to posterity.They partition by an alternate cycle called meiosis which includes two successive divisions
• At the point when a cell separates by meiosis it produces four new cells rather than just two
• The new cells solely have half the quantity of chromosomes than that of the mother cells

Diffusion and Osmosis

• The plasma membrane is a selectively permeable membrane that allows substances or materials to move both inward and outward
• Diffusion [spontaneous movement of a substance from a high concentration (hypertonic solution) to a low concentration (hypotonic solution)] allows some substances, such as carbon dioxide or oxygen, to pass through the cell membrane
• Water passes through a semi-permeable membrane from a high-concentration region to a low-concentration region via osmosis. As a result, osmosis is a type of diffusion that occurs through a membrane that is selectively permeable
• Water is obtained through osmosis by unicellular freshwater organisms and most plant cells. Osmosis refers to the process of water absorption by plant roots

Conclusion

Cells are the simplest and most basic unit of life. So, if we dismantle an organism down to its cellular level, the smallest independent component we’d find is the cell.Explore the cell notes to learn about what a cell is, its definition, structure, types, and functions. These notes go over all of the concepts related to cells in great detail.