GENERAL BIOLOGY 1
Chapter 1: The Cell 
History of Cell
 In 1665, British scientist Robert Hooke examined
a piece of cork and found a little structure in it
which he compared to cellulae.
 He named these structures “cells”. Later it was
discovered that the cell he had found in the cork
were actually outer walls of former plant cell.
 In the late 1600’s, Dutch scientist Anton van
Leeuwenhoek examined different subjects, using a
refined microscope that that of Hooke.
 Leeuwenhoek found moving protist and sperm,
which he collectively termed ‘animalcules”
Cell Theory: Definition
 Developed in the mid-1800’s as a result of various
discoveries about cells, it is one of the basic
principles of biology.
1. The cell is the basic unit of life;
2. All living organisms are composed of cell; and
3. New cells are created from pre-existing cell
First Postulate: Cell is the basic unit of life
 In order that an organism may be considered
living, it must have cell.
 One proof that an organism is alive just by looking
at its cell is the movement of the organelles inside
it.
 In the cork that Hooke examined, the protoplasm
of the cell had already dissipated, indicating the
cell’s death.
 When Leeuwenhoek observed his teeth scrapings,
he found animalcules shooting and spinning inside
the cell.
Second Postulate: All living organisms are
composed of cell
 In 1838, German botanist Matthias Jacob
Schleiden established that the small compartments
in his plant specimens are cells.
 In 1839, a German zoologist named Theodore
Schwann after doing microscopic studies of
animal cells, instituted that all animals are also
composed of cells.
Third Postulate: New Cells are created form pre-
existing cells
 German scientist Rudolf Virchow introduced the
third tenet of the cell theory: Omnis cellula e
cellula which means “Cell com form pre-existing
cell”.
Development of Cell Theory
 1590 - Zacharias Janssen invented a primitive
microscope with the help of his father Hans.
 1663-1665 - Robert Hooke viewed a thin slice of
cork.
1665-1676 – Marcello Malpighi and Nehemiah
Grew conducted separated investigations on plant
cell. They determined the presence of organelles
within its cells.
 1670-1683 – Anton van Leeuwenhoek upgraded
Janssen’s microscope and produced his lens. With
this invention, he discovered mobile organelles in
many subjects, which he called animalcules.
 1831 – Robert a series of discoveries about cell
organelles and ultimately discovered the nucleus.
This became a major breakthrough in the history
of biology.
 1838 – Matthias Schleiden microscopically
examine plants and recognized that plants parts
from cells. In his writings in Contribution in
Phytogenesis, he proposed that the different
structures of a plant are all composed of cells.
 1839 – Theodore Schwann declared that animals
are likewise composed of cells. This put an end to
the diabetes – whether or not plants and animals
are different in structural origin and composition.
 1840 – Albert von Roelliker stated that sperm and
egg are composed of cells and that all humans are
configured from cells.
 1849 – Louis Pasteur was developing
fermentation, a process to kill bacteria, he proved
that bacteria are able to multiply and that bacterial
cells come from other bacterial cells.
 1858 – Rudolf Virchow declared, “Omnis cellula e
cellula” which meant that cells come form pre-
existing cells. With this conclusion, the cell theory
was completed.
Astrobiology
 Our space exploration has been continually
searching for life in outer space. On the space
probes sent to other planets (especially Mars),
these are equipped to look after life. However,
very high resolutions are still not possible on-site.
Cell Structures and Functions
Major Parts of the Cell:
Plasma Outer covering that separates the
Membrane cell’s interior from its surrounding
environment.
Cytoplasm Consisting of a jelly-like cytosol
within the cell in which other cellular
components are found.
Nucleus Serves as the brain of the cell’s
activity.
Plasma Membrane
 It encloses and safeguards its organelles from
possible harm that foreign materials can inflict on
GENERAL BIOLOGY 1
them.
 It also controls the exchange of essential
components and obtains chemical messages from
other cells.
Fluid  The plasma membrane is a mosaic
Mosaic of components primarily,
Model phospholipids, cholesterol, and
proteins that move freely and
fluidly in the plane of the
membrane
Components of Plasma Membrane
1. Phospholipids
It is a lipid made of glycerol, two fatty acid tails, and a
phosphate-linked head group. Biological membranes
usually involve two layers of phospholipids with their
tails pointing inward, an arrangement called a
phospholipid bilayer.
2. Cholesterol
It is another lipid composed of four fused carbon rings,
is found alongside phospholipids in the core of the
membrane.
3. Proteins
Proteins help move large molecules or aid in cell
recognition
Peripheral proteins are attached on the surface (inner
or outer)
Integral proteins are imbedded completely through the
membrane.
Cytoplasm
 It is the entire region of a cell between plasma
membrane and nuclear envelope.
 It is composed primarily of water, proteins and
salts.
 In the cytoplasm, the organelles are suspended in a
gel-like solution called cytosol, which is composed
of both organic and inorganic compounds.
 Cytosol accounts for about 70% of cellular
content. It contains a rich supply of
macromolecules and smaller organic molecules.
 The cytoplasm also contains enzymes that break
down waste and enable metabolic reactions.
 It allows for cellular expansion and growth.
 Together with cytoskeleton, cytoplasm determines
cell shape and accommodates movements for
some cell types.
Nucleus
 Discovered by Robert Brown in 1833.
 It is the most viral part of the cell and dubbed as
the “control center”
 It directs all of the cell’s activities and determines
how a cell should appear and function.
 A double layer of nuclear membrane encloses the
nucleus to keep it distinct from other cellular
components.
 Nucleus serves as the site of ribosomes synthesis.
 Nucleus holds chromosomes which carry tightly
wrapped and coined DNA.
The organelles: Endomembrane System
 The endomembrane system is a group of
membranes and organelles in eukaryotic cells that
works together to modify, package, and transport
lipids and proteins.
 This system is made up of organelles that are
communally linked by structure specific to each of
them.
 These organelles are:
1. Endoplasmic Reticulum
2. Ribosomes
3. Vacuoles
4. Golgi Apparatus
5. Lysosomes
6. Peroxisomes
7. Centrosomes
Endoplasmic Reticulum
 The Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) is a series of
interconnected membranous sacs and tubules that
collectively modifies proteins and synthesized
lipids.
 These two functions are performed in separate
areas of ER; the rough endoplasmic reticulum and
smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
 The hallow portion of ER tubules is called lumen
or cisternal space.
 The membrane of the ER, which is a phospholipid
bilayer embedded with proteins, is continuous with
nuclear envelope.
Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum
 It has ribosomes on its surface.
 It makes membrane proteins and proteins for
export out of cell.
 Proteins are made by ribosomes on ER surface.
 They are then threaded into the interior of the
Rough ER to be modified and transported.
Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum
 It incorporates proteins into cisternae and
transports synthesized proteins across the
cytoplasm, thereby allowing the synthesis of fatty
acids and phospholipids.
 It is abundant in liver cell, where it detoxifies
hydrophobic chemicals. This makes them water-
soluble for excretion.
Ribosomes
 Ribosomes are involved in providing a frame for
proteins synthesis; hence they are site of protein
GENERAL BIOLOGY 1
production.
 They are present in both prokaryotic and
eukaryotic cells.
 Developing muscle cells, skin and hair cells
contain large numbers of free ribosomes.

Vacuoles
 A vacuole is a fluid-filled vesicles enclosed by a
membrane.
 It has a selectively membrane freely allowing
water passage but retaining smaller molecules
within it and stores chemical within the cell.
 Vacuole ability to break down large molecules
makes it comparable with lysosomes in animal
cells. Likewise, both organelles thrive in acidic
environment.

Lysosomes
 The lysosomes serve as digestion slots for cellular
materials that are due for expiration or are no
longer useful.
 It is the cell’s reprocessing area, where it hacks
chemical bonds of any foreign substance it comes
contact with, in order to recycle with the raw
material.
 It is dubbed as the cell’s “suicide bags”
 These organelles are capable for self-destruction in
order to save the rest of the other organelles from
being poisoned.
 This happens through autophagy, or the natural
process of organelle destruction.
 Cells take in food by phagocytosis.
 Lysosomes digest the food & get rid of wastes.

Peroxisomes
 It is a small, round organelles enclosed by single
membrane, somehow resembles that of a
lysosome.
 It is responsible for self-damage and mostly
disintegrate proteins, accommodate the breakdown
of fatty acids and detoxify many poisons that enter
the body.
 It also shields the cell from serious damage caused
reactive oxygen species (ROS) molecules.