Related topics: proceedings of the national academy of sciences , cancer , protein , stem cells , cancer cells
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
Citrus surprise: Vitamin C boosts the reprogramming of adult cells into stem cells
10 hours ago |
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Famous for its antioxidant properties and role in tissue repair, vitamin C is touted as beneficial for illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer and perhaps even for slowing the aging process. Now, ...
'Self-seeding' of cancer cells may play a critical role in tumor progression
10 hours ago |
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Cancer progression is commonly thought of as a process involving the growth of a primary tumor followed by metastasis, in which cancer cells leave the primary tumor and spread to distant organs. A new study by researchers ...
Scientists identify protein that keeps stem cells poised for action
9 hours ago |
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Like a child awaiting the arrival of Christmas, embryonic stem cells exist in a state of permanent anticipation. They must balance the ability to quickly become more specialized cell types with the cellular chaos that could ...
Scientists improve chip memory by stacking cells
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Arizona State University have developed an elegant method for significantly improving the memory capacity of electronic chips.
Hot Electrons Could Double Solar Cell Power Efficiency
Dec 18, 2009 |
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Scientists have experimentally verified a theory suggesting that hot electrons could double the output of solar cells. The researchers, from Boston College, have built solar cells that successfully use hot ...
How to Find Signs of Life on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 18, 2009 |
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By studying the signatures of fossil life on Earth, geobiologists can get a clue of what to look for when hunting for extraterrestrial life on Mars.
Glitter-sized solar photovoltaics produce competitive results
Dec 22, 2009 |
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Sandia National Laboratories scientists have developed tiny glitter-sized photovoltaic cells that could revolutionize the way solar energy is collected and used.
Scientists discover 2 genes that drive aggressive brain cancers
Dec 23, 2009 |
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A team of Columbia scientists have discovered two genes that, when simultaneously activated, are responsible for the most aggressive forms of human brain cancer.
Research yields new agent for some drug-resistant non-small cell lung cancers
Dec 23, 2009 |
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The ability to make, test, and map the atomic structure of new anti-cancer agents has enabled a team of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists to discover a compound capable of halting a common type of drug-resistant ...
Study shows a key protein helps control blood pressure
Dec 23, 2009 |
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University of Iowa researchers have shown that a protein channel helps nerve sensors in blood vessels keep blood pressure in check. Without the protein channel, known as ASIC2, the sensors are unable to send the brain the ...
First adhere, then detach and glide forward
Dec 23, 2009 |
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How do one-celled parasites move from the salivary gland of a mosquito through a person's skin into red blood cells? What molecular mechanisms form the basis for this very important movement of the protozoa? ...
Switchable Nanostructures Made with DNA
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have found a new way to use a synthetic form of DNA to control the assembly of nanoparticles — this time resulting ...
New human reproductive hormone could lead to novel contraceptives
Dec 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Nearly 10 years after the discovery that birds make a hormone that suppresses reproduction, University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists have established that humans make it too, opening ...
Knockdown of E2F1 reduces invasive potential of melanoma cells
Dec 23, 2009 |
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Inhibition of transcription factor E2F1 reduced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression and reduced the invasive potential but not proliferation of metastatic melanoma cells, according to a brief communication ...
Up a little on the left... now, over to the right... Scientists find a source of nonallergic itch
Dec 22, 2009 |
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Scratching below the surface of a troublesome sensation that's equal parts tingle-tickle-prickle, sensory scientists from Johns Hopkins have discovered in mice a molecular basis for nonallergic itch.
