Parts of the cell

Cells when you look at them most of them are quite complex and are made up of a lot of parts. There are four important parts: Membrane, Cytoskeleton, Genetic material and its organelles. These parts make up the cell and keep it alive for the duration of it's life. I will talk about each one and what it does.

Membrane: Cells are covered by a cell membrane (plasma membrane) it serves as protection for the cell and separates it from the surrounding environment. This membrane is made up of a double layer of lipids and hydrophilic phosphorus molecules. Inside the membrane are protein molecules which move different molecules in and outside the cell.

Cytoskeleton: The cytoskeleton is what keeps the cells shape up to date, and keeps organelles in place. When a cell grows the cytoskeleton moves the internal structures around to accommodate them to the cells new shape and speed. It controls the cells shape by moving, bunching and aligning filaments.

Genetic material: Two kinds of Genetic materials exist currently, one of them is DNA and the other RNA. Cells use DNA for long term information storage, whilst RNA is used for the transport of information.

Organelles: ( Note: Organelles labeled in RED are only found in Eukaryotes)

Cell nucleus: The place where the cells stores all of its information. (spherical)

Mitochondria and Chloroplast: They are the ones which give energy to the cell. Mitochondria uses oxygen to release energy stored within cellular nutrients, chloroplast uses sunlight. Both of these generate an energy form called ATP.

Endoplastic Reticulum: It is the network where molecules travel along to modify or just get somewhere.

Golgi Apparatus: It processes and packs macromolecules like protein and glucose to be used by the cell.

Ribosome: It's used to synthesize proteins from amino acids, they can be found floating or bound.

Lysosomes and Peroxisomes: Lysosomes have digestive enzymes which digest useless organelles, food and bacteria. Peroxisomes release enzymes to get rid of peroxides which are toxic to the cell.

Centrosome: It produces microtbules which is the most important component of the cytoskeleton. In every animal cell there is only one but some have been found in plant cells.

Vacuoles: Basically the storage area of the cell, it stores food and waste and in some even excess water.

Eukaryotes

 Eukaryote cells are found as protists, fungi, plants and animals. They are either unicellular, colonic or multi cellular. They have a nucleus bound by a double membrane, in some cases it´s just a single membrane. They are much more complex in comparison to prokaryotic cells. They have a variety of internal structures called organelles and have a cytoskeleton. Eukaryote DNA is divided up into several linear bundles called chromosomes.

Eukaryotes reproduce through meiosis, which is a process in which each daughter cell receives a copy of one of the parents chromosomes.

Differences among Eukaryote cells

Three types of these cells exist:

1. Animal cells: These cells make up the tissues in an animal body. Unlike plant cells and fungal cells they lack a cell wall and chloroplasts. Since it lacks a cell wall it can adopt many shapes, phagocyte cells (white blood cells) can engulf other structures as well.

2. Plant cells: They have a cell wall and chloroplast which they use in photosynthesis for food. They are strictly bound to one shape unlike animal cells.

3. Fungal cells: Fungal cells are similar to animal cells except they have a cell wall which contains chitin (a derivative of glucose). Also Higher fungi also have porous parts called septa, which allows cytoplasm, organelles and nuclei (only sometimes) to pass through.

Different Types of Cells (Prokaryotes)

Two types of cells exist, Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes cells. Prokaryotes are typically bacteria and archaea, they are usually uni cellular (which means that they are one cell) and don´t have a nucleus. These cells are very basic and don´t have many internal structures. Like most bacteria they reproduce asexually, they usually do this by binary fission. Also most of these cells can form stable communities.

A typical Prokaryotic cell

What is a cell?

Well the cell is the basic structural, functional biological unit of every living organism. It is the smallest organism that´s considered living, except viruses. Cells are often considered the building blocks of life. Cells are made up of protoplasm's contained inside a membrane which contains small molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids.

The number of cells inside plants and animals varies whilst humans contain up to 100 trillion cells. The cell was first discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665, much later on cells theory was developed stating that all organisms are composed of more than one cell and that all cells come from pre-existing cells.