Basic Biology: Cell Functions



Basic Biology: Cell Functions[Author Name(s), First M. Last, Omit Titles and Degrees][Institutional Affiliation(s)]Basic Biology: Cell FunctionsCells and the process of lifeLife is a series of physiological and chemical processes that maintain a body alive. All of those complexities could not take place without the existence of the basic unit of all life sources: the cell. As building blocks of life, cells make up everything we know to be alive, whether it is human, animal, micro organic, or plant-based. The processes that take place within the human cell are responsible for mainly every other life process to be possible. Cells are approximately one micrometer in size. They are a circular “sack” of organelles (small organs) that are protected by a plasma membrane that is semi-permeable. Inside, the organelles float in a viscous clear liquid called cytoplasm. These organelles are to cells what human organs are to people. They all have a function. For example, the vacuoles hold the cell’s food, water and waste until it is time to release them. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) produces ribosome proteins and important lipids for proper cell functioning. The Golgi apparatus moves the proteins around. Meanwhile, the mitochondria are the energy suppliers of the cell; they turn basic nutrients into energy. All cells have a nucleus, or center of operation, which holds deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, the blueprint of life. Cells to clone one another and multiply through the process of mitosis, or cell division. Yet, there is more to life than just cellular processes. The complexity is larger than that. Properties of lifeThere are processes that are inherent to living beings. These are called the properties of life. These are activities that take place among the living in a natural way. It is part of the survival mechanism of living things, and it helps to expand their lifespans. The processes are: order, stimuli, reproduction, development, regulation, homeostasis, and processing energy (Simon, Dickey, Hogan, Reece, 2015). Basically, order refers to how cells organize themselves to form structures. In the case of humans, the cell order begins with the atom, or the basic unit. Atoms make molecules. Molecules make up the organelles of the cells. This happens in one-celled living things. In multiple-cell living things, like us, the cells form tissues, which form organs such as our stomachs, and lungs, and then these organs work together in systems (Simon, Dickey, Hogan, Reece, 2015).Reproduction and development refer, respectively, to duplicating our deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and to the posterior development of the species. In reproduction, multicellular beings would pass genes containing DNA its offspring (Simon, Dickey, Hogan, Reece, 2015). Development occurs in all living things. In the offspring, it entails growing physically. In beings that are already grown, development entails maturing and aging. Regulation and homeostasis are processes that are related. When it comes to “regulating activity,” all living beings must regulate activity to operate and live optimally from the inside out. At the cellular level, there are also mechanisms that regular the cell’s growth within themselves. This is called mitosis, or cell division and reproduction. The steps of this are: a) prophase, when the centrioles separate and the nuclear membrane breaks down, b) metaphase or when the chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell, c) anaphase, where these chromatids separate into chromosomes and move apart and, d) telophase, when the chromosomes shift to opposite ends of the cell and new nuclei membranes form (Simon, Dickey, Hogan, Reece, 2015). This is not the only way that a cell regulates itself. For example, when a cell starts growing large during a process, its surface to volume ration changes by making the cells smaller (Simon, Dickey, Hogan, Reece, 2015). Also cells automatically divide in order not to get too big and die. This is also because if a cell gets too large, it will have problems with the movement of nutrient across the cell’s membrane. In a way, cells do a lot of work to preserve themselves.Homeostasis is related to regulation because the right conditions must be present for them to occur. Homeostasis, at the cellular level, entails that things such as temperature, chemicals, and pH need to be in optimal amounts for the processes to occur. The way that cells divide, transport nutrients, and flow is an example of how organs do the same thing in order to keep the body balanced. The organs work together to keep this balance the same way that the cell undergoes process to regulate its own functions (Simon, Dickey, Hogan, Reece, 2015).Energy processing is a basic process that is used by all living beings. Metabolic activities could not be possible without energy. In plants, for example, the energy is produced by absorbing it from the sun and converting such energy into food through photosynthesis. In humans and animals, food is the primary source of energy. Regardless, whether plant or animal, energy is the key source of life that allows for all the life processes happen. Without energy, there could not be life. (Simon, Dickey, Hogan, Reece, 2015)Photosynthesis and cellular respirationPhotosynthesis and cellular respiration are two important processes for living organisms to tap on energy sources found in nature. These processes aim for the goal of obtaining energy. During photosynthesis, plants use the energy they absorb from the sun through their leaves. The energy goes to structures in the leaf called chloroplasts, which hold on chlorophyll. This latter is the substance that makes plants green. The combination of energy, carbon dioxide and water will produce oxygen and glucose in a process called the “Calvin Cycle.” The glucose will become the plant’s key food source, which will allow for more metabolic processes to continue to happen. Cellular respiration happens in animals, particularly in the cell’s mitochondria and cytoplasm parts of the cell. While plants get their food energy from the sun, cellular respiration consists on breaking down the nutrients from food to get energy. This energy source is also stored as ATP, or adenosine triphosphate molecules. For this to happen, two things need to happen. Glycolysis, or anaerobic respiration is when cells use glucose to yield 2 molecules of pyruvate and 2 of ATP without using any oxygen. The second process, aerobic respiration, occurs when the pyruvate molecules that were produced in anaerobic respiration are used to release carbon dioxide, water, and energy. Then the energy is stored as ATP molecules and the body uses it as it moves and engages in activities. (Simon, Dickey, Hogan, Reece, 2015)Genetics gone wrong: Cancer and MendelMore than 100 years ago, Gregory Mendel, an Augustinian monk, discovered what is now known as phenotype and genotype. These are the pillars of his genetic theory. According to it, variance among living beings is based on inherited traits that come from the living things that helped to bring us to life. We are, basically, varied copies of our ancestors. Phenotypic characteristics are all the traits we possess, from physical to behavioral, that we inherited. In theory, we are meant to look and behave like our ancestry. Genotypic traits are the internal genes we carry, such those that increase our propensity to suffer from specific diseases. One of these diseases is cancer. (Simon, Dickey, Hogan, Reece, 2015)The epidemiology of cancer suggests that some malignancies tend to be collected from generation to generation. As such, one family may have a higher tendency to develop a cancerous condition than another simply because the gene is present in the family’s genealogy. What is known as “cancer” is basically a growth of cell that cannot be controlled by the natural processes that cells go through. Cancer cells grow unchecked by these processes. When they grow, they can mutate because of fast cell division rates. The bad control of a cancer cell can make it develop into a tumor, and attack surrounding cell tissues, even bodily systems. This means that a cancer tumor that begins in one system, for example, the bones, could travel to the digestive system, the brain, or any other working organ in the body. This “traveling” of cells may cause for new tumors to develop. In conclusion, cells are the basic elements of life. Inside themselves, cells also undergo a life of their very own. Like the bodies they form, they multiply, breathe, grow, excrete, and die. They also experience malformations in what we know as “cancer.” Gregory Mendel, a monk, was perhaps the first investigator that noted the variances in inheritance that are caused by what cells carry within. What this means is that cells carry within them genetic codes that produce the phenotypical (physical) and genotypic (genetic) characteristics that makes us all unique from others that do not come from our very own genetic pool. In other words, we are the product of variances in our ancestry dating back thousands of years. We are what our ancestors were, or at least a variance of it. Cells exist in all living things, from human, to plant, to animal. Each genetic code is different and cannot be crossed among one another. This means that humans and plants cannot be genetically crossed with success, and neither can humans be crossed with animals. In all, cells are replicas that carry important genetic codes that are, essentially, the code of our lives and the lives of all things.ReferencesSimon,D. Dickey,R., Hogan,C., Reece, V. (2015) Campbell Essential Biology New Jersey: Pearson.HYPERLINK ""Been Seen by Customers in the HYPERLINK ""Moment They Are Searching for Your Products & Services.AdGoogle AdWords?Learn MoreStages in the Process of PhotosynthesisLight-dependent ReactionsThis is the first stage of the photosynthetic process. These reactions take place in the presence of sunlight, and use light energy from the sun to produce ATP molecules and other molecules known as NADPH. These molecules are used as the energy source to carry out the reactions in the next stage of photosynthesis.Light-independent Reactions (Calvin Cycle)In this stage of photosynthesis, energy-containing sugar molecules are synthesized. The ATP and NADPH produced are used to fuel the reactions in this stage. Here, CO2 molecules are broken down and converted into sugars and other compounds. The Calvin Cycle is repeated twice in order to yield one molecule of glucose.Cellular RespirationCellular respiration takes place in the same way in both plants and animals. Living cells obtain the products of photosynthesis (sugar molecules) and undergo cellular respiration to produce ATP molecules. Some cells respire aerobically, using oxygen, while others undergo anaerobic respiration, without using oxygen. The process involves a set of chemical reactions to convert chemical energy from the glucose molecules into ATP molecules.Chemical reaction in Cellular RespirationGlucose + Oxygen → Carbon dioxide + Water + Energy (ATP)You could save $782AdHYPERLINK ""Get a free mobile quote in minutes. You could save $782 on car and home …Liberty Mutual Insurance?Get A QuoteStages in the Process of Cellular RespirationGlycolysisCellular respiration begins at this stage in the cytoplasm of the cells, and yields 2 carbon-based molecules called pyruvate, and 2 molecules of ATP. Oxygen plays no part during this stage, so it is called anaerobic respiration.Aerobic RespirationThis process takes place in specialized structures within the cell called mitochondria, and uses the products of glycolysis, the pyruvate molecules, to release energy, along with CO2 and water as the by-products of the reaction. The energy released is stored in the form of ATP molecules. Usually, a total of 38 ATP molecules are produced.Differences between Photosynthesis and Cellular RespirationPhotosynthesis utilizes sunlight to produce food molecules. Cellular respiration utilizes glucose molecules to obtain energy-storing ATP molecules.Photosynthesis takes place in plant leaves containing the chlorophyll pigment. Cellular respiration takes place in the cytoplasm and mitochondria of the cell.Photosynthesis uses water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to create glucose molecules, and releases oxygen as a by-product. Cellular respiration uses glucose molecules and oxygen to produce ATP molecules and carbon dioxide as the by-product.Photosynthesis takes place only when there is sunlight. Cellular respiration occurs at all times.Photosynthesis involves conversion of one type of energy into another: light energy into chemical energy. Cellular respiration involves using that chemical energy and breaking it down to release energy.Photosynthesis takes place in two stages of light reactions and dark reactions. Cellular respiration involves aerobic (glycolysis) and anaerobic respiration.Photosynthesis occurs only in plants and some bacteria. Cellular respiration takes place in all types of living organisms.ConclusionLife, as we know it, is possible due to a series of events of a chemical nature that occur at the cellular level. Specific elements need to be present in order for there to be “life.” These elements include oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen ( ). Those basic blocks of life formation form other important elements, whose job is to continue to expand our genetic code, which is our blue print. This is the job of the acids, such as nucleic acid and proteins (. ).The elements that make life possible combine, reproduce, mix, and perpetuate our existence by using the environment, and the current condition of the human body, to keep themselves going. This is why, in all, life depends on environmental variables as much as it depends on internal processes and genetic pre-disposition. [Heading 3].[Include a period at the end of a run-in heading. 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Journal Title, Pages From - To.Last Name, F. M. (Year). Book Title. City Name: Publisher Name.Footnotes1[Add footnotes, if any, on their own page following references. For APA formatting requirements, it’s easy to just type your own footnote references and notes. To format a footnote reference, select the number and then, on the Home tab, in the Styles gallery, click Footnote Reference. The body of a footnote, such as this example, uses the Normal text style. (Note: If you delete this sample footnote, don’t forget to delete its in-text reference as well. That’s at the end of the sample Heading 2 paragraph on the first page of body content in this template.)]TablesTable 1[Table Title]Column HeadColumn HeadColumn HeadColumn HeadColumn HeadRow Head123123123123Row Head456456456456Row Head789789789789Row Head123123123123Row Head456456456456Row Head789789789789Note: [Place all tables for your paper in a tables section, following references (and, if applicable, footnotes). 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