Related topics: proceedings of the national academy of sciences , cancer , cancer cells , stem cells , immune system
Cell (biology)
hideThe cell is the structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building block of life. Some organisms, such as most bacteria, are unicellular (consist of a single cell). Other organisms, such as humans, are multicellular. (Humans have an estimated 100 trillion or 1014 cells; a typical cell size is 10 µm; a typical cell mass is 1 nanogram.) The largest known cell is an unfertilized ostrich egg cell.
In 1835 before the final cell theory was developed, a Czech Jan Evangelista Purkyně observed small "granules" while looking at the plant tissue through a microscope. The cell theory, first developed in 1839 by Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann, states that all organisms are composed of one or more cells. All cells come from preexisting cells. Vital functions of an organism occur within cells, and all cells contain the hereditary information necessary for regulating cell functions and for transmitting information to the next generation of cells.
The word cell comes from the Latin cellula, meaning, a small room. The descriptive name for the smallest living biological structure was chosen by Robert Hooke in a book he published in 1665 when he compared the cork cells he saw through his microscope to the small rooms monks lived in.
For more information about Cell (biology), read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with cells
Seattle team wins $900,000 in Space Elevator Games
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
19 hours ago |
5 / 5 (8) |
4
(AP) -- A Seattle team has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space - an idea spurred by science fiction novels.
Researchers find new way to attack inflammation in Graves' eye disease
Nov 06, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
A small group of patients with severe Graves' eye disease experienced rapid improvement of their symptoms — and improved vision — following treatment with the drug rituximab. Inflammation around their eyes and damage to the ...
DNA molecules in moss open door to new biotechnology
Nov 06, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Plasmids, which are DNA molecules capable of independent replication in cells, have played an important role in gene technology. Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden have now demonstrated that plasmid-based methods, ...
1930s drug slows tumor growth
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 06, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (8) |
1
Drugs sometimes have beneficial side effects. A glaucoma treatment causes luscious eyelashes. A blood pressure drug also aids those with a rare genetic disease. The newest surprise discovered by researchers at the Johns ...
Chocolate rich in flavanols may protect the skin from UV
Nov 06, 2009 |
5 / 5 (9) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study has discovered for the first time that dark chocolate rich in flavanols may provide significant protection from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light.
Magnetic nanoparticles to simultaneously diagnose, monitor and treat
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Nov 06, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) giving an army of 'therapeutically armed' white blood cells direction to invade a deadly tumour's territory, or the use of mNPs to target specific nerve channels ...
Polycystins : proteins that regulate the cellular barometer
Nov 05, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
What is the role of proteins called polycystins in patients with polycystic kidney disease? A team of researchers from CNRS and INSERM, led by Eric Honoré from the Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire ...
Nanoparticles may cause DNA damage across a cellular barrier
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (9) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have shown in the laboratory that metal nanoparticles damaged the DNA in cells on the other side of a cellular barrier. The research, by the University of Bristol, is published ...
New Synthetic Molecules Trigger Immune Response to HIV and Prostate Cancer
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (8) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Yale University have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body’s immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. Their ...
Crossing the line: how aggressive cells invade the brain (w/ Video)
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
0
In diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cells of the immune system infiltrate the brain tissue, where they cause immense damage. For many years, it was an enigma as to how these cells can escape from the bloodstream. ...
Study shows neural stem cells in mice affected by gene associated with longevity
Nov 05, 2009 |
3 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A gene associated with longevity in roundworms and humans has been shown to affect the function of stem cells that generate new neurons in the adult brain, according to researchers at the Stanford University ...
Study provides insights into the molecular basis of tumor cell behavior
Nov 05, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
A new study by a team of researchers led by Crislyn D'Souza-Schorey, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, sheds light on the molecular basis by which tumor cells modulate their surroundings ...
First use of antibody and stem cell transplantation to successfully treat advanced leukemia
Nov 05, 2009 |
3 / 5 (1) |
0
For the first time, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have reported the use of a radiolabeled antibody to deliver targeted doses of radiation, followed by a stem cell transplant, to successfully treat ...
Key player identified in cascade that leads to hypertension-related kidney damage
Nov 05, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
A key player in a cascade that likely begins with stress and leads to high blood pressure and kidney damage has been identified by researchers who say the finding may lead to better ways to control both.
Nanotechnology: A risky frontier?
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 05, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
Inside a cramped back room at Rushford Hypersonic, a start-up headquartered in southeastern Minnesota, sits a cube-like machine that throws a mean atomic fastball. At the push of a button, the reactor hurls atoms toward a ...
