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Chapter 1. Introduction to Cell BiologyThe word cell comes from the Latin language, “cellulae”, which means “little rooms”.Cellulae was named by Robert Hooke in 1665. Robert Hooke was the first person touse the microscope. However, his microscope was only has 30-fold. Robert Hookewas examining the cork and he saw a network of tiny, box-like compartments, whichwere the dead plant tissue called parenchyma. Later, a Dutch scientist, VanLeeuwenhoek had improved the microscope to 300-fold, enabled him to observedliving cells.Although microscope had been invented early during the Renaissance era, but the celltheory did not develop until 100 years later in 1830s. At that time, microscope had been improved to 1 micrometer of resolution, enabled the scientists to observe thedetailed structures of eukaryotic cells as well as most bacteria.In 1838, a Germany botanist,Matthias Schleidenproposed thatall plant tissues are consisting of cells and all embryonic plants are arises from a single cell. A year later,the similar conclusion was reported byTheodor Schwannconcerning animal cells. In1839, Schwann proposed the cell theory thatall life are consisting of cell(s) and cell isthe basic unit of all life. In 1855, Rudoff Virchow proposed that cell arose from thedivision of preexisting cell.The Origin of Life:How life starts is about the genesis of the first prokaryotes, the single-celledmicroorganisms that lack true nuclei. According to the old westerner traditional view,all life arises from the non-living matter through thespontaneous generation.However, this theory had been overturned by the Louis Pasteur in 1862. Thespontaneous generation was then substituted by the biogenesis-“life-form-life” theory,which proposed that all life arises from the preexisting life through reproduction.The origin of life theory was proposed by A.I. Oparin and J.B.S. Haldane during1920s. 4.6 billion years ago, the Earth was formed and the first life stars to form onEarth 3.9 billion years ago. When the Earth was still young, the oxygen level in theatmosphere was very low and probably thick with water vapor, nitrogen gas, methanegas, ammonia gas, hydrogen gas and hydrogen sulfide gas. As the Earth starts to cool,the water vapor condensed to form the oceans. At that time, the atmosphere was ahighly reducing environment and the energy sources were the lightning and theultraviolet radiation as well as the organic compounds that can formed from simpler molecules and atoms. The origin of life was started in four sequential steps:
 
1.
The abiotic synthesis of small organic moleculessuch as amino acids andnucleotides.
2.
The joining of the monomer organic molecules intolarger polymers.
3.
The packaging of these polymers into a droplet called protobiont.
4.
The origin of self-replicating moleculeswhich made inheritance possible.In 1953, Stanley Miller and Harold Urey tested the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis with aset of laboratory apparatus. Miller and Urey set up a closed system in their laboratoryto simulate the conditions thought to have existed on early Earth. A warmed flask of water simulated the primeval sea; the strongly reducing atmosphere in the systemconsists of hydrogen gas, methane gas, ammonia gas, and the water vapor. Besides,sparks were discharged in the synthetic atmosphere to mimic lightning. A condenser was used to cool the atmosphere, raining water and dissolved compounds into theminiature sea. As the material circulated through the apparatus, they periodicallycollected the samples for analysis. They had identified a variety of organiccompounds including amino acids such as alanine and glutamic acid that are commonin proteins of organisms. They also found many other amino acids and complex, oilycompounds. From the above results, organic molecules, the first step in the origin of life, can form in a strongly reducing atmosphere.It is unclear whether the young Earth’s atmosphere contained enough methane andammonia to be reducing. Recent evidences suggest that the early atmosphere wasmade up of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and was neither reducing nor oxidizing,therefore, less likely to produce organic molecules. Instead of forming in theatmosphere, the first organic compounds on Earth may have been synthesized near submerged volcanoes and deep-sea vents. These locations were the weak points onEarth crust where hot water and minerals gush into the ocean. These regions are alsovery rich in inorganic sulfur and iron compounds, which are important in ATPsynthesis by present-day organisms.All cells are bounded by plasma membrane, which within the membrane is a semifluid substances-cytosol, in which organelles are found. All cells also containchromosomes which carrying genes in DNA form. Besides, one more importantfeature common to all cells today is the presence of ribosome.
 
Prokaryotic cells and Eukaryotic cells:Prokaryotic cellsare different from the eukaryotic cells due to theabsence of membrane-enclosed nucleus. In eukaryotic cells, DNA molecules are stored innucleus which is surrounded by doubled-membrane called nuclear envelope. TheDNA molecules of prokaryotic cells are concentrated in a region callednucleoidincytoplasm; there is no membrane present to separate the nucleoid from thecytoplasmic environment. Besides, the prokaryotic cells alsolack endomembranesystemsuch as endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, chloroplasts, and Golgiapparatus present in eukaryotic cells. The prokaryotic cells also have an additionalgel-like layer of capsulewhich is absence in most eukaryotic cells. Even though boththe prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells have flagella and ribosomes, their ultra structuresare significantly different from each other. The flagella of eukaryotic cells are madeup of arrangement of microtubules while theflagella of prokaryotic cells lack microtubules. The sedimentation coefficient of ribosomes between the two types of cells also different. The sedimentation coefficient of eukaryotic ribosomes is 80Swhile the prokaryotic ribosomes are only 70S.Since the year of 2000, the tree of life consists of three main domains:Bacteria,Archaea, and Eukarya. Domain is the taxonomic level that is above the kingdom. Thedomain Bacteria includes most of the currently known prokaryotes, including the bacteria closely related to mitochondria and chloroplasts. The domain Archaeaconsists of a diverse group of prokaryotic organisms that inhabit a wide variety of environments. Some Archaea can use hydrogen as an energy source and some arecapable of living in salty or hot environments. The domain Eukarya consists of organisms which are referred to as eukaryotes. This domain includes many groups of single-celled organisms as well as multicellular organisms such as plants, fungi, andanimals.All life today shares a common ancestor. The origin of life starts about 4 billion yearsago or even earlier. About 3 billion years ago, the last common ancestor of all livingthings starts to diverge into two categories: the bacteria and Archaea. About 2.5 billion years ago, the possible fusion Archaean and bacterium giving rise to the firstancestor of eukaryotes. About 1 to 2 billion years ago, the endosymbiosis of mitochondrial and chloroplast ancestors into the eukaryotic cells giving rise to theeukaryotic life like today.
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