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
Researchers show brain waves can 'write' on a computer in early tests
Dec 07, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (17) |
3
Neuroscientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville, Fla., have demonstrated how brain waves can be used to type alphanumerical characters on a computer screen. By merely focusing on the "q" in a matrix of letters, ...
Researchers demonstrate that stem cells can be engineered to kill HIV
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Dec 08, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (13) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have for the first time demonstrated that human blood stem cells can be engineered to target and kill HIV-infected cells.
Scientists use virus to kill cancer cells while leaving normal cells intact
Dec 03, 2009 |
5 / 5 (7) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- A virus that in nature infects only rabbits could become a cancer-fighting tool for humans. Myxoma virus kills cancerous blood-precursor cells in human bone marrow while sparing normal blood stem cells, a ...
Gene Testing In the Doctors Office
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 02, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A portable instrument manufactured by Nanosphere Inc. and recently approved by the FDA, can detect genetic variations in blood that alter the effectiveness of some drugs.
Green tea chemical combined with another may hold promise for treatment of brain disorders
Dec 03, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
2
Scientists at Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) and the University of Pennsylvania have found that combining two chemicals, one of which is the green tea component EGCG, can prevent and destroy a variety of protein ...
New platinum compound shows promise in tumor cells
Dec 07, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- MIT chemists have developed a new platinum compound that is as powerful as the commonly used anticancer drug cisplatin but better able to destroy tumor cells.
Researchers identify new stem cell
Dec 07, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered a new type of stem cell in the skin that acts surprisingly like certain stem cells found in embryos: both can generate fat, bone, cartilage, and even nerve cells. These newly-described ...
Muscle cell infusion shown to strengthen sphincters in animals
Dec 04, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
1
A new study shows that muscle cells grown in the lab can restore an intestine's ability to squeeze shut properly. The work, performed in dogs and rats, might ultimately help treat patients with conditions such as gastric ...
Study suggests adult stem cells may help repair hearts damaged by heart attack
Dec 02, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
Adult stem cells may help repair heart tissue damaged by heart attack according to the findings of a new study to be published in the December 8 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Results from t ...
Nerve-cell transplants help brain-damaged rats fully recover lost ability to learn
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
8 hours ago |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
Nerve cells transplanted into brain-damaged rats helped them to fully recover their ability to learn and remember, probably by promoting nurturing, protective growth factors, according to a new study.
China solar panel makers see boost from Copenhagen
Dec 03, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
2
In Trina Solar's brilliant white factory in eastern China, masked workers in lab coats turn silicon wafers into solar power cells capable of harnessing the sun's clean and limitless energy.
Discovery makes brain tumor cells more responsive to radiation
Dec 02, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Duke University Medical Center researchers have figured out how stem cells in the malignant brain cancer glioma may be better able to resist radiation therapy. And using a drug to block a particular signaling pathway in these ...
Study Unravels Detail of 'Most Important' Cellular Signal
Dec 03, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study provides crucial details that promise to help researchers better understand, and perhaps fine-tune with drugs, one of the most important signaling mechanisms in human cells, according to a study ...
Stem cells battle for space
Dec 04, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
The body is a battle zone. Cells constantly compete with one another for space and dominance. Though the manner in which some cells win this competition is well known to be the survival of the fittest, how stem cells duke ...
Spices halt growth of breast stem cells, study finds
Dec 07, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
A new study finds that compounds derived from the spices turmeric and pepper could help prevent breast cancer by limiting the growth of stem cells, the small number of cells that fuel a tumor's growth.
