Cell- The Biological Atom

“A cell is regarded as the true biological atom.” -George

Henry Lewes
We know, from previous chapters, a big thing is made from several
small things. Take the case of anything non-living, for example, a chair.
They are made from wood (aka cellulose). Cellulose is made from
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, or simply atoms. (Of course, you will say
an atom is made from protons, electrons and neutrons. But seeing that
we have already discussed this and going too small will complicate
matters, we are not discussing further on the subject.)

Atoms

Cellulose

Wood

Chair

Same goes for living organisms like birds, humans, mammals, etc. We
have different organs to do different tasks like breathing, tasting,
thinking and so on. These organs are a part of an organ system, like the
respiratory system, the digestive system and the nervous system. These
organs are made up of things called “tissues”. These are fibre-like, thin,
and useful structures for the body. These tissues are formed from unit
substances called cells.
 Cell

Tissue
Organ
Organ system
Organism
So, what is a cell then? A cell, is a functional and structural unit of life.
My science teacher always said to me, “Traditionally, when a statement
is short and concise, we take each word seriously.” In this case, let’s
start with structural.
As seen in the above pyramid chart, we can see that a cell forms
structures to comprise an organism. This forms the structural part of the
definition.
Being a fundamental part, the cell has to play a lot of roles depending
on the situation. Let’s take the examples of the neuron and muscle. The
neuron needs to transport information across the body; hence it needs
a long and thin yet strong body. Taking the case of muscles, they need
to get the oxygen in large amounts quickly, so that the motion keeps
going. Here we can see that a cell does some work which helps the
organism in the whole. This forms the fundamental part of the
definition.
Organisms come in two types: unicellular and multicellular. Unicellular
organisms have only one cell to their name. These can range from the
tiniest bacteria to the largest algae which invades the lakes.
Multicellular organisms have many cells in their name. They can range
from nostoc to big elephants. They often have trillions of cells.
Fun fact: The human body has 724,000,000,000,000 cells.
There are three factors that determine the function of the cell:
1. Nucleus: Let’s take an example of a computer’s CPU (central
processing unit). What does a CPU do? It processes the
information and gives it as an output, and in some cases, store
the data for further usage. The nucleus is a sort of the CPU of the
cell. It controls all the activities of the cell like producing energy,
making proteins, creating DNA and RNA and so on. The size of
the nucleus depends of the space allocated to the cell and the
function. For example, the muscles cells need more energy
producing organelles (organs of the cell) than a big nucleus.
Nerve cells need prefect coordination to send information across
the body. Hence the nucleus is kept isolated from the rest of the
cell.

Image 24: A photo render of a nucleus in a typical eukaryotic

cell.
Image Courtesy: videvo.net

2. Cell membrane: Let’s bring the computer back. Your computer

has an anti-virus to protect your data from malicious software like
trojans and viruses. It analyses each file and program to check for
any viruses. The cell membrane, or if you want to be fancy, the
plasma membrane is sort of the anti-virus software of the cell. It
analyses everything trying to enter to enter the cell. It allows
useful substances like proteins, water etc. and rejects bad
substances like viruses etc. It is made of a phospholipid bilayer,
 i.e., the top part is made of a phosphorus molecule and the
bottom part is made from lipids.

Image 25: A plasma membrane working in full flow to sustain

the cell
Image Courtesy: shutterstock.com

3. Cytoplasm: All the cell organelles float in a jelly- like substance

called as cytoplasm. Particles like proteins, ATPs, starch zip across
the fluid matrix. (In the image, the red fluid is the cytoplasm.)
 Image 26: The cytoplasm and the cell organelles inside it.
Image Courtesy: istockphoto.com

On the basis of the nature of nucleus, cells are classified as prokaryotic

and eukaryotic cells. (Sounds like geeky stuff to me.) The word
prokaryotic is derived from “pro- “(primitive) and “karyon” (kernel or in
this case, nucleus.) In prokaryotic (sounds easy now?) cells, the nucleus
is not fully matured to do any high-level cell functions. Examples
include amoeba, blue-green algae, mycobacteria etc.

On the basis of position, i.e., in a plant or an animal, cells are

segregated into plant cells and animal cells. Both are eukaryotic but
plant cells have another layer of protection after the plasma membrane
called the cell wall. It is composed of cellulose. But cell wall is not
exclusive to plants only. It has been found in bacterial cells, algae and
fungal cells (composition might vary).
If there are so many different varieties of cells, how do they coordinate
their functions effectively. The answer is rather obvious: organs of the
cell help the cell to perform its functions.

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“Cell structure is a little like gardening. You sit and look at the
cells and then you see something and say, “You know, that
doesn’t look right.”- Siddhartha Mukherjee
 Cell- The Biological Atom: Part 2
“Life is a whim of several billion cells to be you for a while.”-
Groucho Marx
In the previous chapter we saw the different categories of cells on the basis of
different factors like complexity of nucleus (eukaryotes and prokaryotes),
number of cells (unicellular or multicellular) and so on.
But what we have never looked is how the cell works so seamlessly.
Just as we have organs to perform our vital functions like how the lungs
helps in breathing, the cell has organs known as cell organelles. Each
has its own unique properties and functions. We will we be first looking
at the organelles of a prokaryotic cell and then progressively move to
eukaryotic cells.
First up is the nucleoid. To feel prokaryotic cells better about
themselves, they have a 3rd grade copy of a true nucleus called as a
nucleoid. Apparently, it stores all the genetic information of the cell.

Next up is the plasmid. Again, as with the nucleoid-nucleus issue,

prokaryotes have a unique type of DNA known as plasmids. DNAs in a
eukaryotic cell are double-helix in shape but plasmids are circular. DNA
in a eukaryotic cell is found only in the nucleus bound together by
proteins called as histones whereas plasmids are simple and not bound
to some complex structure. Also, they are found floating in the
cytoplasm.

The last thing we are discussing on prokaryotes are its ribosomes.

Ribosomes are the protein factories of any cell, whether it is eukaryotic
or prokaryotic in nature. However, there is a fine distinction between
the ribosomes in both these types of cells. Firstly, the ribosomes in a
prokaryotic cell are the 70S ribosomes, i.e., the “S” standing for
Svedberg units and in eukaryotic cells, it is the 80S variety of
ribosomes. Secondly, ribosomes in a prokaryotic cell are found freely in
the cytoplasm but in eukaryotes, ribosomes are found floating AND are
also found attached to the endoplasmic reticulum of the cell.

Image 27: The ribosome without the membrane

covering it.
Image Courtesy: ma.ucsc.edu
So, we are now done with the main organelles of a prokaryotic cell.
Let’s move to an animal cell for the basic organelles of a eukaryotic cell.
First on our list is the nucleus. Although we have already discussed this
organelle, we will now be exploring how this teeny-tiny organelle
differentiates the huge variety of cells into lowly prokaryotes and royal
eukaryotes. (I don’t mean to differentiate, but hey, the truth is the truth.)
The nucleus is the boss of the cell as it regulates almost everything that
goes in the cell. Want to know when the cell eats or what is the speed
of packaging of materials in and out of the cell? The nucleus is your
man, or so to say, your organelle. It contains a library of instructions
known as genes which you inherit from your parents. For every
situation, whether it is simple or apoplectic, the nucleus has all the
solutions. These genes compile to form DNA, that is, (be ready for hell
to come), deoxyribonucleic acid. These DNAs are bound to histone
proteins to form chromatin fibres. And when the cell is about to divide
(binary fission in most cases), the chromatins clump together to form
chromosomes.
(I am not going into details, because 1) it’s complicated and 2) it’s not
relevant to the main topic of our discussion.)

The nucleus has many complex things inside it. The nucleus has an
outer covering called as the nuclear envelope (sad you can’t post any
letters in it) but it is not smooth and rigid as you might think. It has
openings so to let input material come into the nucleus. Like the cell
has cytoplasm, the nucleus has its own jelly-like matrix known as
nucleoplasm. Chromatins are suspended in it. At the heart of the
nucleus is perhaps the most significant thing of it, the nucleolus. It
sends information to start the productions of protein-producing
ribosomes.

Image 28: A diagram of the inner workings of the

nucleus.
Image Courtesy: microbionotes.com

Next up on our hitlist is the endoplasmic reticulum or ER for short.

It secretes various complex compounds like proteins and lipids
throughout the cell. It also acts as an interface from the nucleus to the
cytoplasm. The ER is composed of two main components:
1. Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum: This part of the ER is “rough”
because ribosomes are embedded in its surface. These
ribosomes along with the floating ribosomes of the cytoplasm
help the cell secrete protein for its own use. They are found more
abundantly in the hepatocytes of the liver which needs proteins to
carry on its day-to-day functions.
2. Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum: This part of the ER is “smooth”,
because, well, it has no ribosomes on it. It secretes important
molecules like steroids (to decrease inflammation in the cell),
phospholipids (for the plasma membrane) and lipids (to store
 energy for long term use, aka fats). They are found in big amounts
where something or the other has to be secreted like the oil
glands in the skin which waterproofs the skin. It also helps in
detoxification of the cell.

Image 29: The endoplasmic reticulum (both RER and

SER included) with the nucleus.
Image Courtesy: javatpint.com

The next organelle is the mitochondria (singular is mitochondrion).

You can spell it like, “mai-toh-kawn-dree-uh”. Remember this
pronunciation because this organelle is the second-best organelle in
the cell after the nucleus. It is the main source of energy for the cell.
It manufactures “adenosine triphosphate” or just ATP for short. This
ATP along with the proteins of the ribosomes fuel up the cell to
perform its day-to-day activities. It is believed that the mitochondria
once used to be a prokaryotic cell until it was engulfed by a
eukaryotic cell and adapted itself for the cell. Proof of this? Well, the
mitochondria has its own DNA which only comes from your mother’s
genes and also has its own ribosomes (the 70S variety, generally
found in prokaryotes). To increase the efficiency of the
mitochondria, it has invaginations, also known as cristae, to increase
the surface area so that more reactions can take place to form the
ATP molecules.
 Image 30: Diagram of mitochondria, the powerhouse of
the cell.
Image Courtesy: istockphoto.com

The next organelle we are about to discuss is the Golgi apparatus,

(called dictyosomes in plant cells), the packaging centre of the cell. It is
named after Camilo Golgi, the bloke who discovered it using body, the
Golgi Complex and the Golgi Apparatus. The main function of the
Golgi body/apparatus is to “package” the proteins and lipids
synthesised by the RER/ribosomes and the SER respectively. What it
basically does is it packs the proteins and lipids into a vesicle along with
a recognition protein. The cell has an option to decide whether to store
the vesicle or send it out for the other cells to use. The Golgi apparatus
also acts as a trash identifier. We know that each chemical reaction has
a by-product and some of these by-products are not needed by the
cell. So, to conserve space, the “trash” molecules are sent to the Golgi
apparatus and then it is packed and sent to the plasma membrane for
disposal. It also secretes mucus, which is present when you have a
running nose, but is beneficial in a way. Mucus traps bacteria, viruses,
fungal spores from entering your body by trapping them in their sticky
matrix. And then when you blow your nose, all those microorganisms
will go away down the sink. The Golgi apparatus is made up of
flattened discs and has two faces, the cis face and the trans face. The
proteins and lipids enter the cis face and get processed in the
cisternae. The new vesicle containing the modified proteins or lipids is
transferred to the trans face.

Image 31: The Golgi apparatus, along with the incoming

and outgoing vesicles.
Image Courtesy: britainnica.com

The next organelle is perhaps the most dangerous organelle of all, the
lysosome. It is known as the “suicide bag” of the cell because it dies
after doing its function which is to basically destroy the thing it is
specified to. To give a more peaceful definition, when a cell organelle
is worn out or is doing the work in a wonky sort of way, the lysosome
goes and sprays hydrolytic enzymes all over the organelle. It also acts
as the cell’s army as it kills the viruses, bacteria and other stuff which are
trying to invade the cell. The lysosomes are activated by the nucleus
and are manufactured by the Golgi apparatus. It is covered in a single
membrane of width 100 µm. If you want to infiltrate the cell,
manipulating the lysosome is your best bet.
 Image 32: The lysosome, the most dangerous and
unstable organelle of a cell.
Image Courtesy: dreamstime.com

The next organelle is the vacuole, the storehouse of the cell. It stores
important nutrients like proteins, complex molecules, ATP etc. for the
cell for later usage. Animal cells have many vacuoles but are small in
size, whereas in plant cells, the vacuole is the prominent organelle after
the nucleus. It is covered by a membrane known as the tonoplast.
Following is a diagram of the plant cell’s vacuole (diagram won’t vary
much in animal cells, but will be a lot smaller):
 Image 33: The vacuole is one of those organelles which
define the similarities between a plant cell and an
animal cell.
Image Courtesy: shutterstock.com

The next organelle is the centriole, which helps the cell in cell division.
Cell division is a fancy way of saying that the cell splits itself into two
parts called as daughter cells and then those daughter cells divide to
form two more daughter cells and so on. They are only two for each cell
and position themselves at the poles of the cell. The function of
centrioles is to help organize the chromosomes before cell division
occurs so that each daughter cell has the correct number of
chromosomes after the cell divides. Centrioles are found only in animal
cells, and are located near the nucleus. They are made of a protein
called as tubulin.
Image 34: The centriole, the helper of cell divison.
Image Courtesy: science.howstuffworks.com

Now we move on the organelles of the ever-versatile plant cell. The

plant is a eukaryotic cell, like the animal cell. So, obviously, both of
them have some things in common. But due to the process of
evolution, plants had employed more organelles to do its functions. So,
let’s now see the exceptional organelles of the plant cell which we
animals don’t have:
Starting off, we have the cell wall, the toughest membrane of the entire
cell family. It is composed of cellulose and hemicellulose. Its position is
the outer membrane of the cell, i.e., before the plasma membrane. The
primary function of the cell wall is to protect and provide structural
support to the cell. The plant cell wall is also involved in protecting the
cell against mechanical stress and to provide form and structure to the
cell. It also filters the molecules passing in and out of the cell.

Image 35: The cell wall, the plant cell’s toughest bodyguard ever.
Image Courtesy: thoughtco.com

The next organelle of the plant cell is the plastids. They are the next
version of the mitochondria, only more powerful and versatile. They do
complex stuff for the cell like manufacturing carbohydrates, proteins
and fats, giving the green colour to the plant and much more. They
also do the most famous thing which plants are famous for: making
food out of thin sunlight and air. The plastid is differentiated on the
basis of function they do:
1. Proplastid: A proplastid is an organelle found in the
meristematic regions of the plant. It is colourless and small. It is
from where plastids are derived. It is still undeveloped and may
divide to produce more proplastids. As the cell containing
proplastids mature, the proplastids transform and develop into
plastids with specialized functions.

Image 36: A microscopically enlarged image of a proplastid.

Image Courtesy: journals.biologists.com
2. Etioplast: Etioplasts are chloroplasts that have not been exposed
to light. They are usually found in flowering plants grown in the
dark. If a plant is kept out of light for several days, its normal
green pigments will actually convert into etioplasts.

Image 37: A microscopic image of the etioplast.

Image Courtesy: pixels.com

3. Leucoplast: Leucoplasts are usually found in most of the non-

photosynthetic parts of the plant like roots. They act as a storage
shed for starches, lipids, and proteins depending on the need of
the plants. They are mostly used for converting amino acids and
fatty acids.

Image 38: A microscopic image of the leucoplast.

Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org
There are many types of leucoplasts on the basis of what they store:
a) Amyloplasts: Amyloplasts are found in roots and storage tissues
and store and synthesize starch for the plant through
the polymerization of glucose.

Image 38: A stained slide of amyloplasts put under a

microscope.
Image Courtesy: pixabay.com

b) Elaioplasts: Elaioplasts are found in the anthers of flowering

plants and in the seeds of oil plants like sunflower, groundnut etc.
and in citrus fruits. They produce fats and lipids for the cell for
future usage.
Image 39: A black-white microscopic photo of elaioplasts.
Image Courtesy: nature.com

c) Proteinoplast: Proteinoplasts (also known as aleuroplasts) are

responsible for… (duh) proteins. They are found in protein-rich
plants like Brazil nuts, pulses and peanuts.

Image 40: A faintly-stained slide of proteinoplasts.

Image Courtesy: wikiwand.com

4. Chromoplast: Chromoplasts is the secret to a plant’s beauty, its

colour. They produce carotenoids, i.e., different colour pigments
for the cell. They are found more concentrated in the flowers and
basically everywhere which is not green in colour.

Image 41: A vibrant microscopic image of a group of

chromoplasts. (slide taken from the plasmodesmata of a plant
cell.
Image Courtesy: stock.adobe.com
 5. Chloroplasts: Chloroplasts are a subunit of chromoplasts, just
that instead of many colours, it produces the green pigment,
chlorophyll. It is the site for photosynthesis, i.e., producing food
from sunlight for the plant.

Image 42: A microscopic image of the driver of photosynthesis,

chloroplasts.
Image Courtesy: quora.com

So…I think we are done with all the basic organelles of both
prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Note that in some cells, they have
transformed their organelles to suit their needs. This is called
adaptability of organisms. For example, amoeba has modified its
plasma membrane to pseudopodium (meaning false feet). It helps the
organism to engulf the food on its way.
Let’s now proceed to the second ladder of our biology pyramid-
tissues.

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“Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissues. Realize the

strength and move on.” -Henry Rollins
 Tissues- The Backbone of bio-
functions
“Any cell, tissue or organ is capable of crying out for attention,
and when you give it some, the healing process begins.” -Deepak
Chopra
In the last chapter we have discussed how a cell is capable of the most
primitive of bio-functions. Now we shall see how these cells come
together in perfect coordination to form something even more
complex. The study of tissues is called histology.
Simply put, a tissue is a group of cells working in perfect coordination
with each other. There are several types of tissues based on what they
do and where they are located.
Just like cells, tissues are divided into two broad categories: plant
tissues and animal tissues.
Let’s start with the plant tissue this time (because we started off with the
animal cells in the previous chapter). They are broadly classified into
meristematic and permanent tissues.
Meristematic tissues are the tissues that divide constantly. These tissues
are found in areas of growth of a plant. The cells of this tissue are
spherical, oval, polygonal or rectangular in shape. They have a dense
cytoplasm and a prominent nucleus. On the basis of location, the
meristematic tissues are divided into apical, intercalary and lateral
meristems.
Image 43: A cross-section of a plant stem to show the meristematic
cells.
Image Courtesy: byjus.com

• Apical meristem: These tissues are situated at the shoots and

roots of the plant. They produce vertical height to the plant.
• Intercalary meristem: These tissues are located near the nodes
and internodes of the plant. They are responsible for the
elongation of the stem.
• Lateral meristem: These tissues are found just beneath the bark. It
is responsible for increasing the girth or thickness of the stem.
Heading on to permanent tissues, we find that the meristematic tissues
have adapted themselves (the technical term is differentiation) to form
the permanent tissues. They do not divide as they lose the ability to
divide on maturity. Permanent tissues are divided on the basis of
complexity, simple permanent tissues and complex permanent tissues.
Simple permanent tissue is divided into three types, parenchyma,
collenchyma and sclerenchyma.
• Parenchyma: The cells of this tissue are large, rounded or iso-
diametric. They are thinly walled and have a large central vacuole.
The parenchyma can change its form depending upon what it is
storing. When it contains the green pigment chlorophyll, it
becomes a chlorenchyma. When parenchyma is present is water
plants like lotus and needs buoyancy to float, it fills up with air
and becomes an aerenchyma. When parenchyma stores ergastic
substances (non-protoplasmic substances), it becomes an
idioblast.
Image 43: A view of a stem to prove it contains parenchyma.
Image Courtesy: istockphoto.com

• Collenchyma: The cells of this tissue have thin walls that are
especially thick at their corners due to deposition of cellulose and
pectin. Intercellular spaces are generally absent. Collenchyma
provides mechanical support for plants with no secondary
growth. It is present at the margin of leaves and resist the tearing
effect of the wind.

Image 44: A view of collenchyma from a microscope.

Image Courtesy: topperlearning.com

• Sclerenchyma: The cells of this tissue are completely dead and

thick walled with deposition of lignin. It comprises in the
 formation of the secondary growth of the plant, i.e., the bark of
the cell.

Image 45: Stained slide of sclerenchyma under a microscope.

Image Courtesy: carolina.com

Moving on to complex permanent tissues, they are composed of more

than one type of cell which work together as a unit. There are two types
of complex permanent tissues, xylem and phloem.
• Xylem: Xylem conducts water and dissolved minerals from the
roots to all other parts of the plant. The xylem is composed of
tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem sclerenchyma. It
also gives mechanical strength to the plant.
 • Phloem: Phloem conducts food and water across the plant. It is
composed of sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma
and phloem sclerenchyma.

Image 46: A cross-section of a flax stem. The first

circle is the pith, the second circle is the xylem, the
third circle is the xylem (a little more complex than the
previous one), the fourth one is the phloem, the fifth
one is the sclerenchyma, the sixth one is the cortex
and the last circle is the epidermis.
Image Courtesy: istockphoto.com

Next up is the cortex, the second-outer layer of a plant. The cells are
mostly thinly-walled parenchyma and may contain chloroplasts in it (the
outer cortex). It lies below the epidermis and forms a part of the cork of
obtained from a woody plant. (Refer cross-section for diagram.)
The last tissue of the plant cell is the epidermis. “Epidermis” is a general
term meaning “outer layer”. It is the final covering of leaves, roots,
stems and flowers of the plant. It protects against water loss,
regulate gas exchange, secretes metabolic compounds, and (especially
in roots) absorbs water and mineral nutrients.
(Refer cross-section for diagram.)
We have now finished with the plant part of the tissues. Let’s move on
to the tissues present in our body, the animal tissues.
Animal tissues are classified on what do they do, where they are
present, why they are present and so on. Broadly, animal tissues are
divided into four types: epithelial tissues, muscular tissues, connective
tissues and nervous tissues.
Starting off with the epithelial tissues, whose main function is to cover
and protect the sensitive organs of the animal body, basically what we
call the skin and the dermal section. They also form ducts and glands,
like the sweat glands on our skin. Epithelial tissues are classified on the
basis of shape, i.e., the shape of the cells.
• Simple epithelium:
a) Simple squamous epithelium: The cells of this epithelium are
thin, flat, irregular in shape with no intercellular space. They
protect the linings of important organs like mouth,
oesophagus, nose, blood vessels etc. Skin is also composed of
this epithelium.

Image 47: An animated photo of a simple squamous epithelium.

Image Courtesy: biologydictonnary.net

a) Cuboidal epithelium: The cells are cubical in shape and are

found in kidney tubules, salivary glands, thyroid glands etc. It
helps in absorption, excretion and secretion.
Image 48: An animated photo of a simple cuboidal epithelium.
Image Courtesy: commons.wikimedia.org

b) Columnar epithelium: The cells are cylindrical in shape in

which the nucleus is towards the base. They are found near the
lining of the stomach, small intestine and colon, forming
mucous membrane for the gall bladders and the oviducts. A
modification of the columnar epithelium is the glandular
epithelium. It is present where smoothness is required, like the
nasal passage where these glands secrete mucus (too much of
it and we get a cold and a running nose) which is a
mucopolysaccharide (something complex composed of
proteins and carbohydrates).
Image 49: A pencil diagram of a columnar epithelium.
Image Courtesy: jotscroll.com

c) Ciliated epithelium: They are just columnar epithelium, just

that they have these hair-like projections called as cilia. They
are found in the reproductive tract, the sperm duct and the
oviduct. They are also found in the lining of the trachea and
bronchi and the kidney tubules.

Image 50 (a half-century of images, yay!): A ciliated

columnar epithelium with the hair-like projections,
cilia.
Image Courtesy: bio.davidson.edu

d) Pseudostratified epithelium: A pseudostratified epithelium is a

type of epithelium that comprises of only a single layer of cells,
but it is positioned in a way that the tissue looks stacked or
stratified in shape. They are found in the lining of trachea as
well as the upper respiratory tract.
Image 51: An animated image of the (oh, dear) pseudostratified
epithelium.
Image Courtesy: biologydictonnary.net

• Complex epithelium:
a) Transitional epithelium: Transitional epithelium is a stacked or
stratified epithelium in which the shape of the surface cell
changes depending upon the degree of stretch. When the
epithelium is not stretched, the cells of the surface layers are
large and rounded.
Image 52: A diagram of the transitional epithelium.
Image Courtesy: microbenotes.com

Next up, we meet the muscular tissues. They contain cells with strong
contractile ability which produces movement in a body. Muscle cells
are long and slender, arranged in a parallel pattern. These cells have a
lot of microfilaments (a part of the cytoskeleton) which are composed
of actin and myosin (a kind of complex protein). The muscular tissue
can be divided into three parts:
a) Skeletal muscles: Don’t get fooled by the term “skeletal”. It means
that these muscles cooperate with bones to produce voluntary
(stuff which we can control) movement. Some good examples of
voluntary movement are running, twisting your abdomen, typing
a letter to your grandmother etc. The cells of the skeletal tissue
are cylindrical with many nuclei (plural for nucleus) arranged in
bundles. It is present in the locomotory reigons of the body, like
the legs and the arms, also in the pharynx, tongue (yes sir, tongue
is also a muscle) and at the beginning of the oeseophagus.

Image 52: A microscopic image of the skeletal tissue. You can see little
bands across the tissue and some purple dots. The bands are called
striations and the purple dots are the nuclei. Fun fact: Skeletal muscles
are also called straited muscles because of these striations.
Image Courtesy: teaching.ncl.ac.uk
a) Smooth muscles: Smooth muscle cells are spindle shaped and
has a single nucleus at the centre of each cell. These are also
called unstraited muscles because they don’t have any bands
across the tissue. These tissues are mainly found in areas of
involuntary (stuff we can’t control) motion, like at the intestine,
arteries and veins, iris of the eye, ciliary bodies, uterus, urinary
bladder etc.

Image 53: A microscopic image of the smooth muscle. You can

see that the cells are spindle shaped with a prominent nucleus
at the centre.
Image Courtesy: medcell.med.yale.edu
 b) Cardiac muscles: Cardiac muscles are somewhat of a mix
between skeletal muscles and smooth muscles. They contain
striations like the skeletal muscle but have a single nucleus at the
centre. It is only restricted to the heart of the body.

Image 54: A microscopic image of the cardiac muscle. You can see the
branched tissues containing the bands and a single nucleus for each
cell.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

Next up, we have the connective tissues. These tissues connect

different parts of the body, fill up the empty space, act as shock
absorbers for various delicate organs, stores energy for further use (aka
fats) and so on. Connective tissues can be divided into four types on
the basis of their function:
a) Areolar tissue: Areolar tissue is found in the skin and in most of
the internal organs of the organism. It is found in epithelial
membranes, blood vessels, and nerves. It forms a matrix that
surrounds and supports the thing it is supposed to protect.
Image 55: A microscopic image of an areolar tissue. Areolar tissue is
also called loose connective tissue because of the loose threads
hanging around the tissue.
Image Courtesy: studyqueries.com

b) Dense connective tissue: This connective tissue serves as a

packing and binding material for most of the organs in the body.
Complex molecules like collagen and elastin are present in the
matrix. This tissue is the main component of tendons (muscle-
bone connector) and ligaments (bone-bone connector).

Image 56: A microscopic image of the dense connective tissue. You can
see the dense packing of the cells, hence the name, “dense” connective
tissues.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

c) Adipose tissue: Adipose tissues store fats which act as a shock

absorber for many delicate organs. It is located below the skin
and acts as an insulator. The cells of the adipose, also called as
adipocytes, are irregular and have a large central storage area for
the fats. Adipose tissues are also found in the blubber of many
snowy animals like penguins, whales, polar bears, snow foxes etc.
Image 57: A microscopic image of an adipose tissue.
Image Courtesy: terumobct.org

d) Skeletal tissue: Skeletal tissues are the tissues relating to the

skeletal system of an organism. They are of two types:
1. Cartilage tissue: The cells of this tissue, also known
as chondrocytes, are responsible for creating a
firm yet flexible matrix. It has an extensive matrix
which is usually pin, somewhat translucent with a
clearly visible space called as a “lacunae”.
Cartilages are present in the nose (the property
which makes you bend your nose), the ear (some
people have the ability to twist the ears without
using his/her hands), the bone joints and in the
supporting rings of the trachea.
Image 58: A microscopic image of a hyaline cartilage. The purple stuff
is the chondrocytes and the holes are the lacunae.
Image Courtesy: medcell.med.yale.edu

2. Bones: The bone tissue is very hard and non-

flexible. The matrix of bones contains collagen
fibres and mineral deposits. The most abundant
element found there is calcium, followed by traces
of magnesium, carbonate and fluoride ions. The
cells of the bone tissue are called osteocytes and
are stellate in shape (star-shaped cells).

Image 59: A microscopic image of a bone tissue with 10x magnification.

We can notice a big hole in the bone cell system, the Haversian canal,
which helps the flow of nutrients, along with the little holes
(canaliculi), in and out of the cell.
Image Courtesy: med.libretexts.org

e) Fluid connective tissues: As the name indicates, the

connective tissue is fluid and travels through various parts of the
body. There are two types of fluid connective tissues:
1. Blood: Blood is a colloidal solution of plasma,
water, some proteins, dissolved gases and some
organic and inorganic solutes. The matrix is liquid
rather than solid or semi-solid in nature.
Image 60: A microscopic overview of a typical blood tissue mixed with
lymph cells.
Image Courtesy: courses.lumenlearning.com

2. Lymph: It is a colourless fluid, similar in

composition to blood, except the red stuff of the
blood is gone. It’s chiefly composed of plasma
and leucocytes (not to be confused with
leucoplasts, a type of plastid). There are many
types of leucocytes, like neutrophils, eosinophils,
basophils, lymphocytes, platelets, monocytes and
erythrocytes. Lymph is responsible in the
excretory system and the immune system.

Image 61: The types of lymph cells in the human body.

Image Courtesy: cancer.gov
Next up are the nervous tissues, the main communications centre of an
organism. It senses stimuli and transmits the signal from one part to
another part of the body. The nerve cell, or the neuron, is the longest
cell of any multicellular organism.
• Neuron: The overall structure of a neuron is very complicated yet
delicate in nature. It consists of the main cell body with the
nucleus and stuff (cyton) and a narrow rod extending from the
cyton till the neuron’s ending (axon). The cyton gets the signal
from hair-like stuff called dendrites and transmits the signal down
the axon to the axon terminal. The signals are created by electric
impulses which travel at high speeds.

Image 62: A detailed diagram of a nerve cell along with the cyton,
nodes and the dendrites.
Image Courtesy: thoughtco.com

So, we are done with all the major types of tissues known to mankind.
Let’s move two steps down (ignoring the organ systems because the
book would be too detailed), the organisms themselves.

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“Biodiversity starts in the distant past and it points toward the

future.”- Frans Ponting
 Biodiversity- The Key to Evolution
“It is that range of biodiversity that we must care for- the whole
thing- rather than just one or two stars.” -David Attenborough

Let’s imagine a real-life scenario to start this chapter. In your lifetime,

you may have saw different types of flies, like houseflies, dragonflies,
mayflies and so on. They all are different in shape yet they have one
common property – they fly. This is one of the basic fundamentals in
classifying organisms into different groups.
Attempts to classification began since the geeky Greeks, thanks to
Aristotle, who put his feet in literally every subject. Other people like
Pliny the Elder and Theophrastus laid the foundation of bio-
classification. Their theorem was that we can separate organisms on the
basis of where they lived, that is, whether the organism lives in air,
water or land. Obviously, such a system is faulty as there can be
organisms which live on both the domains of habitats. A good example
can be amphibians. Now, what are amphibians? Amphibians are the
organisms which are able to thrive in both water and land, which
obviously puts us into a problem as to where to classify the amphibians.
Frogs, toads, salamanders and newts are some organisms which form
the family of amphibians.
Image 63: Salamanders, newts, toads and frogs form a major part of
the biological family Amphibia.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org, livescience.com, nwf.org,
kids.nationalgeographic.com

A second classification emerged in the 18th century (1758, to be

precise), under the banner of the famous biologist Carolus Linnaeus (to
be discussed later too). He proposed two big kingdoms- Kingdom
Plantae and Kingdom Animalia (“Plantae” for plants and “Animalia” for
animals). At the first, this system faced no opposition from the scientific
community. But then, we began to notice some organisms which were
plant looking but ate like an animal (fungus) or an animal looking
organism but synthesises food from sunlight (protists like Euglena).
Such organisms marked out from both the kingdoms and the two-
kingdom classification fell down quickly. Blame your mushroom soup
for that.
A modification to Linnaeus’ classification appeared in 1866, by Ernest
Haeckel (he did not hack bodies during his time, I assure you). He
proposed a three-kingdom classification – Kingdom Plantae (plants),
Kingdom Animalia (animals) and Kingdom Protista (unicellular plants
and animals). Now, all the weirdo fungi and protists could be placed in
the Kingdom Protista. Everyone thought that they had cracked the
problem of classification.

Or was it? Fast-forward to the year 1956, where Herbert Copeland

found out that bacteria and its related organisms are different than
those of the Kingdom Protista. Basically, what we are trying to say is,
bacteria are prokaryotic and protists are eukaryotic. So, Copeland
created a new kingdom called as Monera for the bacteria-related stuff.
Finally, we have the last attempt on bio-classification and this is the
classification we accept these days. In 1969, a biologist named Robert
Harding Whittaker proposed a five-kingdom system. The kingdoms
are- Kingdom Monera (bacterial stuff), Kingdom Protista (unicellular
eukaryotic organisms), Kingdom Fungi (for the mushrooms and stuff),
Kingdom Plantae (for plants) and Kingdom Animalia (for animals).

The next thing which came to the biologists’ mind was that how to
differentiate two varieties of the same thing. For example, a rose is
typically red in colour with some spiky thorns around its stem. There are
many other roses, like the Dog-rose, Multiflora rose, French Rose and
so on. To differentiate between all these similar-looking yet different
species, we have come with a particular nomenclature. Remember we
used to define new covalent compounds in the chapters “Carbon’s
Army of Compounds-1” and “Carbon’s Army of Compounds- 2” on the
basis of number of carbon atoms, functional groups, type of bond and
so on. The art of naming stuff on the basis of some rules is called
nomenclature.
Coming back to the biologists, they needed a system to differentiate
between the local varieties and the real varieties. Our good man,
Carolus Linnaeus, came up with a simple system. In this system, each
organism is provided with two words, a generic name and the specific
name. So, if I wanted to differentiate between a jaguar and a leopard, I
can simply write their common genus, which is, Panthera (a genus of
nasty, big cats) and combine it with their specific names, pardus for
leopard and onca for jaguar. Combining these two, we get the
leopard’s name as Panthera pardus and the jaguar’s name as Panthera
onca. Note that both the generic and specific names are usually Latin
and the generic name starts with a capital letter and the specific name
follows the generic name, starting from a small letter. This system,
proposed by dear Linnaeus, is called taxonomy.
Another key thing in bio-diversity is the hierarchy of taxonomy. It is a
system of classification in which taxonomic categories are placed in
order of a logical sequence. The sequence is as follows:

Kingdom

Phlyum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Species

• Species: It is the lowest category in the taxonomical pyramid.

They include a group of individuals which resemble closely in
structure as well as functions.
• Genus: It’s a group of closely related species with common
ancestry, form a genus. For example, a collection of bears with
distinct characteristics comes under the genus Ursus.
Image 64: The genus Ursus contains many types of bears like the
grizzly bear, the polar bear and so on.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

• Family: A number of genera (plural for genus) having common

factors, are grouped as a family. The genus Ursus comes under
the family Ursidae which also contains giant pandas.

Image 65: The family Ursidae contains bears and the distantly-related
giant panda.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org
 • Order: A number of families having some common factors, are
grouped as in an order. The family Ursidae comes under the
order Carnivora, which stands for carnivorous animals. (Note:
Even though most bears are omnivorous, we consider most
omnivorous animals in the order Carnivora.)

Image 66: The order Carnivora contains families of different kinds of

organisms, like jaguars, walruses, hyena, wolf, racoon, bears and so
on. Basically, the order Carnivora contains animals which eat meat
only.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org
 • Class: A number of orders which have common factors are
classified into one class. The order Carnivora is a part of the
bigger class, mammals, or simply class Mammalia.

Image 67: The class Mammalia contains organisms like wolfs,

kangaroos, squirrels, humans, zebras, pandas, bears, deers, pangolin,
sea otters, elephants, moles, whales and so on. Basically, the class
Mammalia contains organisms which do not originate from an egg and
can feed their babies with their own milk.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org
 • Phylum: Many classes with common characteristics combine to
form a phylum. The order Mammalia is a part of the bigger
phylum Chordata (Chordata means that the organism has some
support to maintain its body organs, it may be bones or flexible
cartilage.).
• Kingdom: It is the highest category of the taxonomical pyramid.
Remember the five-type classification we did earlier? Monera for
bacterial stuff, Plantae for plant stuff, Animalia for animal stuff,
Protista for protist stuff and Fungi for fungus stuff? These are
classified as the five major kingdoms of taxonomy. In our “bear”
case, the phylum Chordata comes under the kingdom Animalia,
which is to say, animals.

Image 68: The kingdom Animalia contains both vertebrates and

invertebrates like tigers, bears, ocelots, chameleon, snakes, frogs,
ducks, octopuses, humming birds and so on.
Image Courtesy: tutorialspoint.com

Now let’s move to the main details of each kingdom roughly because it
will take ages for me to describe the whole kingdom, which also
includes its families, orders, classes, phylum, genera, species and the
whole taxonomic classification of the kingdom.
Let’s start with the most basic kingdom, Monera. As we discussed
earlier, the kingdom Monera contains unicellular prokaryotic organisms
like bacteria, archaebacteria, cyanobacteria, mycoplasma and so on. It
is said that they were the first signs of life to originate life on Earth and
have not changed much since then. Some organisms in Monera have a
cell wall made up of a complex molecule called as peptidoglycan. They
have a lack of proper cell organelles, that is, they are mostly prokaryotic
in nature. Organisms like blue-green algae can synthesise food from
the sun while others depend on other organisms, that is they are
heterotrophic in nature.

Image 69: Different types of bacteria constitute in the kingdom

Monera.
Image Courtesy: kingdomsmidtermproject.weebly.com

The next kingdom we are going to discuss is the kingdom Protista,

which includes unicellular eukaryotic organisms. It includes organisms
like Amoeba, Trypanosoma, Giardia, Paramecium and so on. They have
well-defined organelles which are membrane-bound. They also have
some adaptabilities which help in their locomotion, such as developing
a flagellum (tail-kind of thing) or some cilia (hair-like stuff around the
organelle).
Image 70: Different types of protists form the kingdom Protista.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

Next up is Kingdom Plantae, which contains multicellular

photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms, aka plants. They can produce
their own food, with carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to produce
their food, with the exception of carnivorous plants, which thrive on
small animals like flies and cockroaches. The cells have a cell wall made
from cellulose and hemicellulose. Most plants are rooted to the surface,
with the exception of floating water plants found in fresh waters or seas.
The growth of the plant is indefinite (unless you chop it down), and new
organs are continuously added throughout its lifespan.
Image 71: Different kinds of plants form the kingdom Plantae.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

The second-last kingdom we are going to discuss is kingdom Fungi.

This kingdom contains organisms whose entire structure is not divided
into root, stem and leaves. They can be both unicellular (like yeast), and
multicellular (like mushrooms) and have a cell wall made up of chitin.
Fungi obtain their food either from dead animal and plant matter
(saprophytes) or from other living organisms (parasites).

Image 71: Different kinds of fungus form the kingdom Fungi.

Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

The last kingdom we are going to discuss is perhaps the most

complicated of the all, Kingdom Animalia. All the organisms are
eukaryotic and some are unicellular but most are multicellular. They can
live in the air, water, land or can be a mix of the any three factors. They
can have tissue organisation (found in simple organisms like sponges)
or organ-system organisation (from worms to animals). Animals have
different ways to move from one place to another, spiders have long,
slender legs; birds fly with their wings; fishes swim with their fins and so
on. The animals are either oviparous (egg -laying animals) or viviparous
(they give birth to the young one). All animals are heterotrophic, that is,
they are dependent on other sources for food. On the basis of food,
they can be divided into herbivores (plant-eating animals, like cows),
carnivores (animal-eating animals like lions), omnivores (they eat both
plants and animals, like humans) and scavengers (they feed on the
dead remains of animals, like vulture).

Image 72: Different kinds of animals form the kingdom Animalia.

Image Courtesy: inaturalist.org

So we are done with all the factors for life to exist. We went through
galaxies, compounds, cell organelles, the early solar system,
humongous stars, tissues and finally organisms, which obviously
includes us humans. But what do these factors mean when we cannot
co-relate them with other?
It’s time…to connect the dots.

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“Collecting the dots. Then connecting them. And then

sharing the connections with those around you. This is how a
creative human works.” – Amanda Palmer