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1.1 Introduction To Cells Student Notes

This document discusses key concepts about cells, including: - The cell theory states that all living things are composed of cells, organisms with one cell carry out all life functions in that cell, and cells only come from pre-existing cells. - Multicellular organisms have specialized tissues that develop through cell differentiation, where certain genes are expressed or not expressed. - Stem cells can divide and differentiate along different pathways, making them important in development and useful for medical therapies. - The surface area to volume ratio of cells impacts their size, as it determines how efficiently materials can move in and out.

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97 views

1.1 Introduction To Cells Student Notes

This document discusses key concepts about cells, including: - The cell theory states that all living things are composed of cells, organisms with one cell carry out all life functions in that cell, and cells only come from pre-existing cells. - Multicellular organisms have specialized tissues that develop through cell differentiation, where certain genes are expressed or not expressed. - Stem cells can divide and differentiate along different pathways, making them important in development and useful for medical therapies. - The surface area to volume ratio of cells impacts their size, as it determines how efficiently materials can move in and out.

Uploaded by

Aheed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

1 Introduction to Cells Student Notes


Name:
Understandings:

 according to the cell theory, living organisms are composed of cells


 organisms consisting of only one cell carry out all functions of life in that cell
 surface area to volume ratio is important in the limitation of cell size
 multicellular organisms have properties that emerge from the interaction of their cellular components
 specialized tissues can develop by cell differentiation in multicellular organisms
 differentiation involves the expression of some genes and not others in a cell’s genome
 the capacity of stem cells to divide and differentiate along different pathways is necessary in embryonic
development and also makes stem cells suitable for therapeutic uses

International-mindedness:

Stem cell research has depended on the work of teams of scientists in many countries who share results thereby
speeding up the rate of progress. However, national governments are influenced by local, cultural and religious
traditions that impact on the work of scientists and the use of stem cells in therapy.

Theory of Knowledge

There is a difference between the living and the non-living environment. How are we able to know the
difference?

Cell theory has three basic principles:

1. All living things are made of one or more cells (cell products).
 multicellular organisms have specialized cells to carry out various functions
2. Cells are the smallest units of life.
 Specialized cell structures within the cell (organelles) carry out
various metabolic functions in the cell
 cell components cannot survive alone.
3. Cells come only from other pre-existing cells.
 Louis Pasteur refuted the idea of spontaneous generation with his experiments.
 cells multiply by division (mitosis and meiosis in eukaryotes, binary fission in prokaryotes)
 all cells descended from simpler common ancestors.

Cell theory is a great example of the scientific process: Refute

Observation Hypothesis Test Corroborate Repeat

Student notes adapted from resources on Stephen Taylor’s IB Biology website i-biology.net
1.1 Introduction to Cells Student Notes
Name:

Limitations and exceptions to cell theory:

Amoebae Fungal hyphae


- Single cell capable -very large
of all life processes -multi- nucleated
-continuous cytoplasm
- chitin cell wall (not cellulose)
Muscle cells Viruses
-multi-nucleated -living or not?
-very long -cells or not?
-can only reproduce when in
control of a host cell

All living organisms carry out the functions of life:

 Metabolism  Excretion
 Reproduction  Nutrition
 Sensitivity  Growth
 Homeostasis

Unicellular organisms, such as amoebae, are capable of all these functions. Multicellular organisms have
specialized cells to carry out some of the functions and not others – but as a whole, all functions are covered.
There is some debate on the classification of viruses, as they cannot carry out all of the functions of life - they
much invade a host and use the host cell’s apparatus to survive.
They can be considered non-living.

Big Cells vs. Small Cells

How many units of membrane are there per unit volume?


1 volume 27
6 SA 54
6:1 SA:vol 2:1

Student notes adapted from resources on Stephen Taylor’s IB Biology website i-biology.net
1.1 Introduction to Cells Student Notes
Name:

The plasma membrane is responsible for import/export in the cell. Metabolic reactions occur on membranes. A
larger SA:vol ratio means the cell can act more efficiently. For every unit of volume that requires nutrients or
produces waste, there is more membrane to serve it.

Diffusion pathways are shorter, so more efficient – molecules do not have to travel so far to get in/out of cell, so
it takes less time and (if its active transport) energy. Concentration gradients are easier to generate – which
makes diffusion more efficient.

A large SA:vol ratio is not always an advantage. Small, warm-blooded mammals lose
heat very quickly due to their large SA:vol ratio. They need to eat almost constantly!
Desert plants would lose water quickly with flat leaves – so they minimize their
SA:vol ratio in order to converse water. Some plants change their metabolism to save
water.

Emergent Properties

The discipline of Systems Biology looks at the way


different parts of a whole organism interact with each
other to give emergent properties. This is a relatively new
field, where science has been traditionally reductionist –
breaking things down into their component parts. By
looking at the whole system, we can see that an organism
is more than the sum of its parts. In this diagram, we see
that when this specific combination of molecules and
pathways are combined, the ability to carry out aerobic
respiration emerges. Emergent properties are seen at every level of increasing complexity, from the atom to the
molecule, to the cell to the organism to the biosphere.

Student notes adapted from resources on Stephen Taylor’s IB Biology website i-biology.net
1.1 Introduction to Cells Student Notes
Name:
Stem cells retain the capacity to divide and differentiate into
specialized cell types. Once a stem cell has differentiated it can
only make more cells of the differentiated cell type.

Cell differentiation is a result of expression of different genes.


All cells in the body carry the same genes in their chromosomes.
What makes a cell different is which genes are expressed - which
are turned on or off. This is triggered by changes and the
environment around the cell.

Stell Cell Transplants: treatment of Lymphoma

In the treatment for lymphoma, bone marrow is


destroyed in chemo- or radiotherapy. Before
this aggressive treatment takes place, stem cells
are harvested from the bone marrow and
stored. These harvested cells can be used to replace the destroyed bone marrow, producing healthy blood cells
in the recovering patient.

Student notes adapted from resources on Stephen Taylor’s IB Biology website i-biology.net

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