Specialised cells

These are cells performing special functions. Examples of some specialised cells that have a
structure adapted for a particular function are given below:
• Muscle cell: These are elongated. These can contract to move, for example, food through
the gut

• Leaf palisade cell-These are packed full of chloroplast for photosynthesis

• Sperm cell- It has a tail for swimming and head containing genes from the father.

• Guard cell- It is of bean shape. Two guard cells form a pore called stoma which is
involved in gaseous exchange in the leaves

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 • Nerve cell: Its elongated part carries nerve impulses. Dotted lines indicate that axon is
very long compared with the rest of the cell

• Xylem vessel- Cells in the xylem vessels are dead and hollow with strengthening rings. It
is involved in carrying water and minerals from the root to the stem.

• Red blood cell: It is of biconcave disc shape with no nucleus and contains haemoglobin
to carry oxygen from the lungs to the respiring cells

• White blood cell: It can change its shape and engulfs foreign particles to destroy it by
phagocytosis.

• Ciliated epithelium cell- It contains cilia which constantly beat back and forth to move,
for example, mucus from the trachea to the throat.

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 Cells, Tissues and Organs

Cells with a similar function are grouped together as tissues. For example, the muscle tissue of
the arm contains millions of similar muscle cells, all are specialised for one function which is the
contraction to move the arm bones. A nervous tissue consists of sensory, relay and motor
neurones which are involved in conduction nerve impulses.

A collection of several tissues carrying out a particular function is called an organ. For example,
a leaf is an organ containing xylem tissue, phloem tissue, mesophyll tissue conisiting of spongy
mesophyll and palisade cells all of which are involved in photosynthesis. A heart is an organ
consisting of different tissues such as cardiac muscle tissue, epithelial tissue, connective tissue
and nervous tissue, all of which are involved in pumping blood.
Several different organs working together form organ system. Examples of different organ
systems are-

Figure: The main organs of the human body

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 • Digestive system- It consists of the gut, along with glands such as the pancreas, gall
bladder and liver. It is involved in the digestion of food and the absorption of digested
food into the blood.
• Gas exchange system including the lungs, is involved in exchanging oxygen and carbon
dioxide
• Circulating system including the heart and blood vessels transport materials aroun the
body
• Excretory system including kidneys, which filter toxic waste materials from the blood
• Nervous system consisting of brain, spinal cord and nerves, which coordinate the body’s
actions
• Endocrine system including glands secreting hormones, which act as chemical messenger
• Reproductive system is involved in the production of sperm in males and eggs in female.
It also allows the development of embryo.

Stem cell
A stem cell is undifferentiated and unspecialised. It has ability to divide by mitosis and
convert into other cell types in the body. There are two main types of stem cells:
• Embryonic stem cells- These are the cells found in the early stage of development
of the embryo. These cells have ability to be converted into any type of cells in the
body.
• Adult stem cells- These cells are found in certain adult tissues such as bone marrow,
skin, the lining of the intestine and muscles. These cells have lost the ability to
differentiate into any type of cell but can form a number of specialised tissue. For
example, bone marrow cells can divide many times but are only able to produce
different types of red and white blood cells.
Stem cell therapy: The use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease, or to repair damaged
tissues is called stem cell therapy. Stem cell therapy can be applied in the following areas:
• The use of bone marrow transplant to treat patients with leukaemia. It also supplies stem
cells that can divide and differentiate to replace cells lost from the body during
chemotherapy.
• To treat diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and to repair damaged nerve tissues
Ethical objection of the use of stem cells:
Embryonic stem cell is a potential life. Use of embryonic stem cell in treatment means killing of
embryo or future baby. This is thus unacceptable by many people.

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