Did you think your cells were just floating around mindlessly? Not even close! Your cells respond in real time to not only the other cells around them, but also the environment they are in. A cell's main way to communicate is by sending chemical signals, think sending chat or email messages. These cell messages are very specific and are only meant for certain types of cells. Because of this, cells have different receptors on them to pick up different specific messages. Think

There are two types of proteins, integral membrane proteins and peripheral membrane proteins. Integral membrane proteins are stuck in the membrane. They have at least one hydrophobic (water-fearing) part that keeps them anchored into the membrane. Intergal membrane proteins help connect to other cells. Most integral membrane proteins are partially embeded. The integral proteins that stretch all the way through the membrane are transmembrane proteins. Their job is to transpor

Believe it or not, the barrier surrounding the cell (cell membrane) isn’t actually solid. It is an oily substance! You see, a cell needs to be able to take in and send out substances, all in specific amounts. If the membrane were solid, the cell would need to have holes, which would cause good substances to leak out and bad substances to get in. Because the membrane behaves like a liquid, it can allow channels to poke through it, to open and close when needed, without leaking

Each cell in our body has its own skeleton, the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton’s job is to hold up the cell and give it its shape. It is also responsible for transportation of substances into and out of the cell. Even though it is called a skeleton, it is quite flexible and changes shape as the cell reorganizes itself. The cytoskeleton consists of 3 main proteins: Microtubules, Actin microfilaments, and Intermediate filaments. Microtubules are the largest. Their job is to act

There is a tiny loop of genetic material called mitochondria dna (mtDNA). Each cell has one nucleus containing nuclear DNA (nDNA). However, each has 1000 to 2500 mitochondria. Because of the relative abundance of mtDNA in the cell, it can often be extracted from old or degraded samples in which nDNA is sparse. For example, if a piece of hair is found at a crime scene, the nDNA in it is sparse or too small. Because there are more mtDNA in one cell, more of it is available to

A normal red blood cell usually lives for about 120 days before dying. When a red blood cell forms a crescent shape, it is called a sickle cell. Sickle cells only take about 10-20 days to die. Having a lot of sickle cells in the blood is called sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is caused when 2 parents with the sickle cell gene pass it down to a child. For example, if a mother and father both have one normal red blood cell gene and one sickle cell gene, every time they

There are 3 types of genes that play a role in cancer, Oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and DNA repair genes. Oncogenes: Oncogenes start out as proto-oncogenes. They act as the gas pedal in a car. Proto-oncogenes are the normal genes that help cells grow and divide. However, the proto-oncogenes can mutate to become an oncogene. The oncogene drives the cells to grow out of control. This is like a gas pedal being stuck, and the car won’t stop speeding. Tumor suppressor genes:

Finger printing is the record of someone’s finger print. DNA fingerprint is a test to identify and evaluate the DNA of a person's cells. DNA fingerprinting involves isolating and extracting DNA from cells, amplifying it through PCR, and running it through gel electrophoresis. Restriction enzymes are used to cut the DNA into fragments of different sizes that are called short tandem repeats [STRs]. STRs are different for everyone. Studies have shown that DNA evidence is 99

Stem cells are grouped based on their level of potency. Potency is the ability to turn into a different/specialized cell. Stem cells are grouped as totipotent, pluripotent, or multipotent based on the range of cell types they can turn into. Multipotent stem cells have the least potency. They can only specialize into different cells in one lineage of cells. For example, blood cell stem cells called hematopoietic stem cells are multipotent stem cells. They can transform into d

Organisms like animals and plants are made up of many or multiple cells. So, they are multicellular organisms. All the cells of multicellular organisms do not do the same thing, they perform different tasks. For example, the cells of the eyes are specialized for sight while the cells of the ears are specialized for hearing. These specialized cells are not specialized when they are first formed. All cells are unspecialized cells when first formed. Through a special process cal

Mitochondrial DNA can be extracted even when the cell is dead. There is a tiny loop of genetic material inside a cell called mitochondria DNA (mtDNA). Each cell has one nucleus containing nuclear DNA (nDNA). However, each cell has 1000 to 2500 tiny loops of mitochondria DNA. Because of the relative abundance of mtDNA in the cell, it can often be extracted from old, dead, or degraded samples in which nDNA is sparse. For example, if a strand of hair is found at a crime scene,

There are advantages to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). For example, genetically modified (GM) salmon can grow 4 times faster than traditionally bred salmon. That means one GM Salmon can feed a lot more people than the non-GMO. GM salmons can grow during winter while traditionally bred salmon can not. This means we can enjoy fresh salmon even when the oceans are frozen in winter. GMOs are great, right? Here comes the bad. If the big GM salmons get released into the

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