All living beings are made up of cells. Some of them are made up of only one cell and others have many cells. Also in: Dutch | French | Hungarian | Spanish
Biology of cells of higher organisms: structure, function, and biosynthesis of cellular membranes and organelles; cell growth and oncogenic transformation; transport, receptors and cell signaling; the cytoskeleton, the extracellular matrix, and cell movements; chromatin structure and RNA synthesis.
In this lesson, the students look at the components of cells and their functions. The lesson focuses on the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Each part of the cell performs a specific function that is vital for the cell's survival. Bacteria are single-celled organisms that are very important to engineers. Engineers can use bacteria to break down toxic materials in a process called bioremediation, and they can also kill or disable harmful bacteria through disinfection.
This essay by Patti and Warren Finke describes the process by which our bodies transform food energy into energy that our cells can use.
Students learn the function of the liver and how biomedical engineers can use liver regeneration to help people. Students test the effects of toxic chemicals on a beef liver by adding hydrogen peroxide to various liver and salt solutions. They observe, record and graph their results.
Cells contain many specialized structures known as organelles which perform a variety of specific functions. To obtain precise information about the structure and functions of subcellular organelles, it is imperative to isolate them free from contaminating organelles. Marker enzymes are known to be localized exclusively in specific organelles and are used to monitor the separation of these organelles. In this exercise the homogenate of Dictyostelium discoideum will be fractionated by differential centrifugation to separate mitochondria, lysosomes, and contractile vacuoles. The fractions will be assayed for their marker enzymes: acid phosphatase for lysosomes, succinate dehydrogenase for mitochondria, and alkaline phosphodiesterase for the contractile vacuoles. This exercise presents two fundamental concepts to the students: organelle isolation and enzyme assays.
