A cell is…
Z.Janssen and H.Janssen (1590)
1st compound microscope
Robert Hooke (1665)
Antoine Van Leeuwenhoek (1673)
Made his own microscopes (300x)
First to observe and describe living cells
Schwann and Schleiden’s Cell Doctrine
2. Cell is the basic unit of structure for all organisms
Virchow’s addition to the cell doctrine
Spontaneous generation
The theory that living material can spontaneously arise from non-living material
Francesco Redi (1625-1697)
John Needham (1713-1781)
Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1781)
Louis Pasteur (1822-1885)
Acellular
Exceptions to the typical cell definition
Acellular: Eg. Viruses
- Can’t reproduce on their own
Acellular: Eg. Liposomes
- Created artificially
1/10 cell features
All cells store their hereditary information in the same linear chemical code (DNA)
2/10 cell features
All cells replicate their hereditary information by templated polymerization (semi-conservative replication)
3/10 cell features
All cells transcribe portions of their hereditary information into the same intermediary information (RNA)
4/10 cell features
All cells use proteins as catalysts
5/10 cell features
All cells translate RNA into proteins in the same way
6/10 cell features
The fragments of genetic information corresponding to one proteins is one gene
7/10 cell features
Life requires free energy
8/10 cell features
All cells function as biochemical factories dealing with the same basic molecular building blocks
9/10 cell features
All cells are enclosed in a plasma membrane across which nutrients and waste materials must pass
10/10 cell features
A living cell CAN exist with fewer than 500 genes