GEN BIO

Why there are specialized cells?

Firstly it is important to determine what specialised cells are. Our body is amazing feature of engineering
work. It has miles of nerve fibres as well as blood basis. There are many seat of digestive system with a
free potential skeletal framework along with a protective covering. Cell is generally defined by
researchers as the basic unit of life. It makes perfect sense provided that every component in our body is
composed of the cells. However not all cells are similar in their composition and a rendition. In fact the
body is developed by more than 200 categories of specialised cells. The term specialised implies that
even the cells are similar in the outlook the different their shape and size and function on the basis of
the role they perform in the human body.

Nerve Cells

Nerve cells are popularly called neurones. The neurones are bundled together in development of a rope
like structure which will branch throughout our body for the formation of the nervous systems. The
neurones are the composing unit of the nervous System. The neurones are found in the human brain
along with other specialised body parts like our spinal cord and nervous all over the body.

Red Blood Cells

The circulatory system of the body is the route taken by the cells in the body to get Oxygen and
nutrients required for their growth. However blood is the real carrier of Oxygen and all nutrients to
different parts of the body. Blood is composed of plasma which is a yellowish fluid in the liquid state
composed of 90% water. Along with water the plasma contains salt and sugar and other minute
substances. Most importantly the plasma contains proteins which carry important nutrients to the cells
of the body to strengthen the immune system of the body so that it can easily fight infection.

2. Why are specialized cells important to living organisms?

Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. The human body is composed of trillions of cells.
They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy,
and carry out specialized functions.

Every living thing is composed of at least one cell (aside from the minor debate about whether viruses
should be considered alive). If living matter were not packaged in a selectively permeable membrane,
then its molecules would simply spread out evenly in the surrounding medium (air or water) and they
could not interact in a way that produces metabolism or life. The surrounding plasma membrane
maintains a difference in chemical composition between the inside and outside of a cell and prevents
vital molecules from escaping. Intracellular membranes compartmentalize cellular molecules in a way
that makes a coordinated metabolism possible.

There are multiple reasons why a plant or animal body is composed of millions to trillions of tiny cells as
opposed to one or a few very large cells:

(1) It allows for division of labor, so different cells can activate or inhibit different genes and specialize as
neurons, muscle cells, kidney cells, blood cells, etc. Far better than one cell trying to “do it all.” That
would be like a human society in which every person has to be competent in every skill necessary for a
functional society.

(2) There is a limit on how large a cell can be without its plasma membrane (or plant cell wall) rupturing,
like an overfilled water balloon.

(3) If a hypothetical cell doubles in size, it has 8 times as much cytoplasm needing metabolic services,
but only 4 times as much surface membrane available to perform those services. Too large a cell cannot
be adequately serviced by transport of materials in and out through its membrane. It will die from
accumulation of its own toxic waste products or from a lack of oxygen and nutrients.

(4) Cells depend on the rate of diffusion of vital molecules through a very crowded aqueous medium.
The time needed for a molecule to diffuse from point A to point B increases rapidly as distance
increases. Therefore in an oversized cell, materials that enter the cell at the surface could not get to the
intracellular components that need them (such as oxygen getting to the mitochondria) fast enough to
support life.

Although cells can take on innumerable shapes and functions within an organism, they all perform the
basic roles of energy absorption and production, cellular maintenance and reproduction. Without cells,
life cannot exist, which shows the overall importance of cell types in life.