What is a Cell?

What is a Cell?

Cell is the most important unit of life. Life starts with a cell and gradually many cells unite to form a larger organism. There are millions and millions of different types of cells

The first and foremost creatures are amoeba and bacteria cell. Has anyone seen an amoeba? Well you cannot. Because they cannot be seen without the microscope (an instrument for looking into smaller things that look big under this machine).The amoeba is made of single cell.

The cell is the smallest unit in our bodies. We have lots and lots of cells in our body. There are brain cells, skin cells, liver cells and stomach cells. These cells have their own work to do and each work in a different way. You can recognize them when you see them under a microscope because they have their own looks and shapes and sizes. All cells have a skin. It is called a plasma membrane. The skin protects it from things around it.

This skin helps waste matters to go out of the cell.

At the centre of the cell there is a round body called the nucleus. There are also many small things inside the cell called organelles and DNA. One is called ribosome and another is mitochondrion. There are also lysosomes. The cell walls hold a plant in shape the same way a skeleton does an animal. In addition to the cell wall the plant cells contain chloroplast. The chloroplast gives the leaves their green color and help in the making of plant food. With the help of chloroplast a plant gets energy from the sunlight.

When you look at a section of the human body, you will see that the human body is made of trillions of cells. There are 200 types of cells. There are very special types of cells in our teeth and gums and also for our eyes. When a baby is born or there is broken bone, everything is related to cell, its division and also its growth.

Cell is the small building brick for life. To send information of one cell to the next, cell division takes place. One cell can just break into another similar cell.

Here are some names you should remember in context to cells.

Chloroplasts – These contain chlorophyll which helps the plants to make their own food.

Cytoskeleton – These provide support to the cells and give them shape. This helps the movement of materials in and out of the cells.

Gogli Apparatus – This is a membrane present near the nucleus which is made of many layers that look like a sac.

Lysomes – This take the food that is not digested to the cell membrane for removing them.

Mitochondria – This has an outer membrane called Cristae and these changes fats, proteins and carbohydrates. This helps to form urea.

Vacuoles – Sacs found for storage with water solution in them.

Plasma Membrane – This is the outer membrane that allows little water or other things to pass through.

These are all organelles. The cells are made of intricate organelles which help the cell to do proper work.