1.1 & 1.

5 The Origin of Cells

According to the cell theory, living organisms are composed of cells

Since the use of light microscopes, cell theory describes what

unifies cells & consists of three main aspects:
● All living organisms are composed of cells.
● Cells are the smallest unit of life.
● All cells come from pre-existing cells (basic unit of reproduction).

More recently, scientists have added another aspect of the cell

theory:
● All cells contain hereditary information (DNA) which is passed on from cell to
cell during cell division.

❏ Watch: The wacky history of cell theory

Write out the four points of Cell Theory

Cell Theory
Over the years many living organisms, both unicellular and
multicellular, have been studied under microscopes and all have
been found to be composed of cells.

● Cells vary extensively in size and shape, but contain certain

commonalities such as:
○ a cell membrane
○ genetic material
○ chemical reactions catalysed by
enzymes
○ the production of energy (ATP) through
cellular respiration
Brainstorm
Some exceptions that I don’t think appear to fit into cell theory are ...

One
exception is

A second
exception is
Exceptions to cell theory include

Striated Muscle Giant Algae

Cells

Fungal Cells Red blood cells

Cells can only be formed by division of pre-existing
cells
● Cells are highly complex structures with no known
natural mechanism suggested for producing
cells from simpler units

○ Viruses are produced from simpler subunits but cannot reproduce outside
the host cell they infect

● No known way to increase cell population without cell division

Cells can only be formed by division of pre-existing
cells
● Ancient philosophers believed in the spontaneous
generation of living organisms from non-living matter
○ Theophrastus (Greek) - the plant Silphium “sprang up” from soil

○ Aristotle (Greek) - insects “form from” dew on leaves, hair &

flesh of animals

○ Paracelsus (16C German-Swiss) - spontaneous generation of

mice, frogs & eels from water, air & decaying matter
Cells only come from pre-existing cells needed to be
verified
● Modern scientists have disproved
these theories (17th Century on)
○ Francesco Redi
■ Maggots only develop on meat if flies
land on it
○ Lazzaro Spallanzani
■ Organisms only grow in boiled soup
left open to air, not sealed containers
○ Louis Pasteur
■ Swan-neck flask experiment
disproved spontaneous generation
from air
Evidence from Pasteur’s experiments
Proved spontaneous generation of cells and organisms does not now occur on
Earth

● Swan necked flask experiments

○ Nutrient broth placed in sealed flasks containing only broth & air
○ Unboiled broth - fungi & other organisms appear
○ Boiled broth - no organisms appear
■ Cotton wool used to collect micro-organisms - fungi & other organisms appear
○ Re-opened flasks after years - fungi & other organisms finally appear

❏ Watch: World Changing Biology Experiments #1 up to 1:40

Outline the general steps of Louis Pasteur’s swan-neck
experiment
Explain the significance of
swan-neck flasks under
different conditions
How do they disprove the idea of spontaneous
generation of cells?
 The first cells must have arisen from non-living
material - How did Life Begin?
- What was the Miller-Urey
● Conditions to produce the first cells Experiment
had to happen in stages over
hundreds of millions of years
● Four hypothesized stages include:
1. Production of simple organic molecules
- amino acids, fatty acids, carbohydrates, nucleic
acids
- Miller & Urey produced amino acids & other carbon
compounds by passing electric charges through a
mixture of methane, hydrogen & ammonia
The first cells must have arisen from non-living
material
2. Assembly of larger organic molecules(long chains)
- Polymers include: carbohydrates, phospholipids, RNA and DNA
- Deep sea vents provide energy supply for carbon compounds to form
polymers

3. Replication of nucleic acids must be possible for reproduction

- RNA may have been initial genetic material (can pass on genes & form
enzymes)

4. Development of self-contained structures (cell membranes)

- Amphipathic carbon compounds would naturally have formed bilayers
separating the internal & external chemistry
Outline the four proposed stages for forming life on Earth:

1. 2.

3. 4.
The origin of eukaryotic cells can be explained by
the endosymbiotic theory
Eukaryotic cells are cells with membrane bound organelles.

The endosymbiotic theory explains that the first organelles

could have formed by:
- Infolding of the plasma membrane
- Nucleus, Golgi apparatus,
Endoplasmic Reticulum, …

- Larger cells engulfing smaller cells

and forming symbiotic relationships
- Mitochondria & Chloroplast
Formation of mitochondria
● Mitochondria were originally free-living heterotrophic prokaryotes that
developed the ability for aerobic cellular respiration
Oxygen + Glucose → Water + Carbon Dioxide + ATP
6 O2 + C6H12O6 → 6 H2O + 6 CO2 + ATP/heat energy

● Larger prokaryotes engulfed smaller “mitochondria” cells

○ Smaller prokaryotes kept living & dividing inside larger cells
○ Over millions of years evolved to become mitochondria inside
eukaryotic cells
● Natural selection favoured this because:
○ Both large & small prokaryotes benefited
○ Larger cell supplied nutrients to small cell
○ Small cell supplied ATP energy to larger cell
Formation of chloroplasts
Chloroplasts were originally free-living
autotrophic prokaryotes that developed the
ability for photosynthesis
Carbon Dioxide + Water →* Glucose + Oxygen
6 CO2 + 6 H2O →* C6H12O6 + 6 O2
*
energy from the sun
● In a separate event - larger prokaryotes engulfed smaller
photosynthetic cells
○ Over time these developed into chloroplasts
● Natural selection favoured this because both organisms
benefited (mutualistic relationship)
The Ins & Outs of Endosymbiosis
Draw & Explain
In your own words how current plant cells formed from ancient bacteria
(endosymbiotic theory)
Chloroplasts & Mitochondria have features suggesting they
evolved from independent prokaryotes

Evidence for the endosymbiont theory includes current

mitochondria and chloroplasts that:
● Have a double membrane
● Have their own genes on circular DNA (like prokaryotes)
● Have their own 70S ribosomes
● Transcribe their own DNA; use the mRNA to synthesize their own proteins
● Can only be produced by division of pre-existing chloroplast or mitochondria
Recall evidence that supports the endosymbiont theory:

Endosymbiont
Theory
Organisms consisting of only one cell carry out all functions of
life in that cell
Living things may be classified as unicellular (made up of one cell)
or multicellular (made up of many cells)

Unicellular organisms include:

● Prokaryotes (bacteria & archaea) which
lack a nucleus and membrane bound
organelles
● Protists which are Eukaryotes
 MR H GREN - Unicellular organisms carry out all the functions necessary for life.
Metabolism all the chemical reactions (anabolic and catabolic) that occur in organisms in
order for them to maintain life
Response organisms respond to their environment

Homeostasis maintaining a stable internal environment within the cell

Growth increase in size (volume and surface area) until the cell is too large to function
efficiently
Reproduction production of offspring; asexually through binary fission or mitosis produces
clones, sexually through meiosis and then mitosis produces genetic variation
Excretion elimination of waste products

Nutrition creating or synthesizing their own organic molecules or consuming organic

molecules
 How do unicellular organisms carry out the seven
functions of life?
Paramecium Movement Chlamydomonas under the
microsco-pe

❏ Paramecium Movement
Specialized tissues can develop by cell differentiation in
multicellular organisms.
Large multicellular organisms need to have specialized cells in order to
live and function efficiently

Specialized cells have differentiated. Differentiation

changes a cell's:
○ Size
○ Shape
○ Membrane potential
○ Metabolic activity
○ Response to signals
● There are 220 distinctively different, specialized
cell types in humans
Draw & Explain
a flow chart of how single cells can form specialized tissues and organ systems
Differentiation involves the expression of some genes and not
others in a cell’s genome.

Differentiation is controlled by gene expression

● Genes are turned on or off in specific cells related to their function

● When a gene is turned on, it will produce specific proteins or

products that allow that cell to function properly
○ eg. a nerve cell will contain all genetic information that other cells have;
however, the genes for the nerve cell are turned on or expressed while
the genes for other cells, for example a hair cell, are shut off

● When some cells differentiate, they lose their ability to reproduce

○ nerve cells and muscle cells
 Multicellular organisms have properties that
emerge from interactions of their components
● Other types of cells are able to reproduce
throughout their lives
○ skin epithelial cells
○ hair follicle cells

Complex life systems in multicellular organisms involve millions of small

simple interactions that work together to allow the complex system to
function properly.
The human body and body systems demonstrate emergent properties,
meaning the whole organism can do more things than individual cells are
capable of.
Brainstorm the component parts of each body system
How Cells Become Specialized
Digestive System Respiratory System

Immune System Nervous System

Stem Cells
❏ Watch: TedEd: What are Stem Cells

Stem cells are an example of cells that have the potential to differentiate
into a variety of different cells, tissues, and organs depending on which
genes are turned on & expressed and which are turned off
● At early embryonic stages, stem cells divide through mitosis and have
the ability to become any type of cell.
○ Eventually they differentiate and express certain genes forming specific,
specialized cells
● The are being used and studied for:
○ medical therapy
○ medical treatment
○ to produce commercial products (eg. meat)
Draw & Explain
the progression from a fertilized egg to embryonic stem cells
Compare embryonic,
umbilical & adult stem
cells…
Location
“Potent”-cy
Advantages
Disadvantages
Ethical concerns

Watch: What are Stem Cells?

Embryonic stem cells
● When an egg is fertilized with sperm, a zygote is formed
● The cell divides by mitosis till it is about 8-16 cells. These are all
embryonic stem cells
● Less chance the cells have genetic damage
○ don’t have time to accumulate mutations
● Can differentiate into any cell type
○ have a higher risk of becoming tumour cells
● Can be used to regenerate skin tissue for people that have been
badly burned or for healing diseases such as Type 1
diabetes by replacing the damaged insulin producing beta cells
Umbilical Cord Stem Cells
● Stem cells obtained from the
umbilical cord, can be frozen
and used later on in life
● Easily obtained and stored at
birth
● Genetically matched to the
individual they were attached to
Adult Stem Cells
● Obtained from some adult tissue such as bone
marrow
● Difficult to obtain & have less growth potential
than embryonic stem cells
● Limited capacity to differentiate compared to
embryonic stem cells
○ less chance for a malignant tumour to occur
● Fully compatible with adult tissue (no rejection)
● Successfully used for bone marrow transplants in
Leukemia patients
Ethical Concerns of Using Stem Cells
● The biggest ethical concerns
involve the use of human
embryonic stem cells
● Currently, therapeutic use of
stem cells requires the death
of an embryo that has not yet
differentiated to supply
embryonic stem cells
Some questions raised include:
● What are the risks involved in treating women with hormones to
induce hyperovulation to provide eggs for research
● Could a human egg market develop in poorer countries/populations if
women try to sell their eggs for stem cell research?
● Is it ethically acceptable to use human embryos for biomedical
research if the research and therapies could save human lives, treat
incurable diseases, and reduce suffering for the sick and disabled?
● Could this lead to reproductive cloning (the cloning of an entire
human)?
Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy
● A genetic disease that develops in children
○ Impacts a membrane protein in the retina causing
the photoreceptor cells in the retina to degenerate
○ Can cause blindness

● Treatment involves injecting embryonic stem cells that can develop

into retina cells into the back of the eyeball
○ ESC’s attach to the retina and begin to grow, improving vision with limited
side effects
○ More human trials are underway

❏ Watch: UK medics lead Europe's first

embryonic stem cell trial
Leukemia & Bone Marrow Transplants
● Caused by a mutation in the genes that control cell division in the
bone marrow
○ Creates an abnormal amount of white blood cells

● One of the greatest therapeutic successes of the use of stem cells as

leukemia (or lymphomas) can be treated with a bone marrow
transplant
○ Uses hematopoietic stem cells (blood stem cells) derived from bone
marrow tissue
○ These cells continually divide to form new red and white blood cells
○ Stem cells are removed from the bone marrow of a compatible donor (eg.
brother or sister)
 ○ The patient undergoes
chemotherapy and radiation therapy
to kill all of their bone marrow cells
○ The donor stem cells are
transplanted directly into the
bloodstream through a central
venous catheter
○ The stem cells find their way into the
bone marrow, where they begin
reproducing and making healthy new
blood cells.

❏ Watch: Leukemia: Are bone marrow

transplants part of treatments?
Practical 1 - Microscopes
Calculation of magnification & actual size

Amoeba Sisters: How to Use a Light

Microscope

- Calculate actual size & drawing

magnification

SC: Calculating Magnification & Actual Size

Practical 1 - Microscopes
Calculation of magnification & actual size

- Create & label a proper biological

drawing of xylem & phloem

Refer to: Kognity 9.2.4

1.1 Study Checklist
At the end of this section you should be able to:
1. List the four major points of cell theory
2. Describe three main exceptions to cell theory
a. Striated muscle cells
b. Fungal cells
c. Giant algae
3. List the seven functions of life and outline how specific unicellular organisms carry out all of these
functions
4. Outline how cell differentiation leads to specialized tissues
5. Compare and contrast the three types of stems cells
a. Embryonic
b. Umbilical cord
c. Adult
6. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using stem cells to treat disease
a. Stargardt’s macular dystrophy
b. Leukemia
7. Create a proper biological drawing
8. Calculate:
a. Drawing Size, Actual Size, Magnification
1.5 Study Checklist
At the end of this section you should be able to:

1. Explain how Louis Pasteur's swan neck flask experiment disproved the theory
of spontaneous generation
2. List the four steps scientists believe led to the formation of the first cells
3. Explain the origin of eukaryotic cells using an annotated diagram of the
endosymbiotic theory
Assessment
❏ Kognity Questions Assignments
❏ Submit: Class Notes Package
❏ Complete: Microscopes Practical 1
❏ Complete: 1.1 & 1.5 Written Quiz (this mark will be recorded)