General Biology Reviewer

Unifying themes in biology.

1. Cell theory
2. Molecular basis of inheritance
3. Relationship between structure and function
4. Evolutionary change
5. Evolutionary conservation
6. Cells are information processing system
7. Living system exists in a non-equilibrium state.

The Cell is the Basic Unit of Life

 It is the smallest part of the organism that can perform all of the characteristics of life. 
 It can grow and divide to replace aged and injured cells.  
 It can acquire energy from a wide variety of sources and use it to carry out a wide range of
cellular processes necessary for its survival.

History of The Cell Theory

 1595 - Hans and Zacharias Janssen (father and son lens grinder and spectacle maker from the
Netherlands) figured out how to align and combine lenses to view things far away or up close.
They were credited by historians to be the inventors of the first telescope and the microscope.

 Robert Hooke (1635-1703) - an English scientist

 1665 - He discovered the cell after he examined under a compound microscope very thin slices
of cork tissue. He noticed that it has a honeycomb-like structure which he said was made up of
“cells” or small walled compartments. His observations on the cell were published in 1665 in
his book entitled Micrographia. However, since the cork is just a piece of dead wood, there was
nothing left to see but the walls of those empty cells.
 Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) - a Dutch tradesman and craftsman with no formal
education.
 1675 - he started making his own microscopes
 1676 - he reported his discovery of forms of life including algae, protozoans, and nematodes
after he examined lake/pond water samples under his microscope. He called the minute, moving
organisms as “animalcules".