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.
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News tagged with cells
Biologists discover bacterial defense mechanism against aggressive oxygen
4 hours ago |
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Bacteria possess an ingenious mechanism for preventing oxygen from harming the building blocks of the cell. This is the new finding of a team of biologists that includes Joris Messens of VIB, a life sciences research institute ...
Researchers identify role of gene in tumor development, growth and progression
5 hours ago |
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Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine researchers have identified a gene that may play a pivotal role in two processes that are essential for tumor development, growth ...
Study uses brain scans to discover how children 'read' faces
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
6 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Oxford University scientists are using brain-scanning technology to understand how we learn to recognise and 'read' faces as children.
When It Comes to Drug Delivery, Size Matters
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
10 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the great promises of nanotechnologies lies in its ability to create drug-containing nanoparticles decorated with targeting molecules that recognize and bind to cancer cells, providing drug delivery ...
Braking news: Particles from car brakes harm lung cells
11 hours ago |
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Real-life particles released by car brake pads can harm lung cells in vitro. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology found that heavy braking, as in an emergency stop, caused ...
First reconstitution of an epidermis from human embryonic stem cells
12 hours ago |
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Stem cell research is making great strides. This is yet again illustrated by a study carried out by the I-STEM Institute (France), published in the Lancet on 21 November 2009. The I-STEM team, directed by Marc Peschanski has su ...
Sweet -- sugared polymer a new weapon against allergies and asthma
Nov 19, 2009 |
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Scientists at Johns Hopkins and their colleagues have developed sugar-coated polymer strands that selectively kill off cells involved in triggering aggressive allergy and asthma attacks. Their advance is a significant step ...
New findings suggest strategy to help generate HIV-neutralizing antibodies
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 19, 2009 |
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New discoveries about anti-HIV antibodies may bring researchers a step closer to creating an effective HIV vaccine, according to a new paper co-authored by scientists at the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute ...
Bone Implant Offers Hope for Skull Deformities
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A synthetic bone matrix offers hope for babies born with craniosynostosis, a condition that causes the plates in the skull to fuse too soon. Implants replacing some of the infant’s bone with the biodegradable ...
New research into the mechanisms of gene regulation
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by Penn State's Ross Hardison, T. Ming Chu Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has taken a large step toward unraveling how regulatory proteins control the production ...
Embryonic stem cell therapy closer to human trials
Nov 19, 2009 |
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Embryonic stem cell therapy got a step closer to the clinic Thursday after US researchers said they filed a request for government approval of human trials.
Schizophrenia gene's role may be broader, more potent, than thought
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- UCSF scientists studying nerve cells in fruit flies have uncovered a new function for a gene whose human equivalent may play a critical role in schizophrenia.
Reflux esophagitis due to immune reaction, not acute acid burn
Nov 19, 2009 |
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Contrary to current thinking, a condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) might not develop as a direct result of acidic digestive juices burning the esophagus, UT Southwestern Medical Center ...
Can EP4 agonist alleviate gastric lesions?
Nov 18, 2009 |
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Over 300 million patients use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the world to treat pain, arthritis, fever and other diseases. Nearly 30% of the users suffer from gastric lesions and bleeding. To mitigate NSAIDs' ...
Beyond genomics, biologists and engineers decode the next frontier
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Princeton biologists and engineers has dramatically improved the speed and accuracy of measuring an enigmatic set of proteins that influences almost every aspect of how cells and ...


