Facts about the Cell – The Building Blocks of Life
A cell is the building blocks and fundamental units of life. It is the smallest unit of an organism which is involved in several important biological activities. The term cell is originally derived from a Latin word which refers to a small room and was first discovered by the scientist Robert Hooke in the year 1665.
A single, minute cell alone can perform several functions to keep an organism healthy and alive. There are about 100 trillion cells in a human body which are mainly involved in different specialized functions. Cell biology is a branch of biology which mainly deals with the study of the cell, structure, and its functions.
Let us know some interesting facts about the cell.
Fact-1
Prokaryotic and the Eukaryotic cell are two types of cells. The main difference between these two cells are categorized based on the presence of a true nucleus.
Fact-2
According to the researchers and their discoveries about the fossils, the Prokaryotic cell was the first cell to be originated on the Earth, which was around 3.5 billion years ago. Later evolved Eukaryotic cells.
Fact – 3
In the Human body, the longest cell is the motor neuron, the largest cell is the feminine egg and the smallest cell is the male sperm cell. In nature, the largest cells found are the ostrich eggs.
Fact-4
The average size of a cell ranges from 1 µm and 100 µm. Moreover, the size of a cell is generally determined by its diameter and not by the length. They are so small that we cannot see with our naked eyes. With the advanced microscopes, we all are able to examine the detailed image of the cell structure and its organelles.
Fact-5
The human body is made up of trillions of cells, which have their own specialized functions. Approximately 50 to 70 billion cells in the human body die every single day and every 24 hours, cell cycle takes places and divides to produces a new cell. These cells include the blood cell, skin cells, etc.
Fact-6
Eukaryotic cells are ten times larger than the prokaryotic cells. This is because a Eukaryotic cell has a true nucleus and other specialized organelles, while a prokaryotic cell does not have.
Fact-7
Every living organism is composed of the cell. Among which, few are called as unicellular organisms, as they are composed of only one cell and some are multicellular as they are composed of many cells. Plants, animals, birds, and humans are examples for the multicellular organism.
Fact-8
Both plant and animal cells are eukaryotic, but they do not look exactly. The main differences are – Animal cells are oval-shaped, with the presence of centrioles and small vacuoles. Plant cell are rectangular shaped with a rigid cell wall, chloroplasts, and large vacuoles.
These were a few of the interesting facts about the Cell. For more detailed information about the cell, types of cells, and cell theory visit BYJU’S website and also learn by watching various subject related YouTube videos by subscribing to our YouTube Channel.