AtoZ: C is for Cells
By Katie Giles
As I was told as a little girl, appearances aren’t important, it’s what’s inside that counts. And, as strange as it may seem, deep down we’re all made of the same stuff.Cells are the functional units that make up all living things. Some organisms are simple single-celled beings and, although we’ve all met individuals who are closer to pond life than Homo sapiens, us humans do need a few more cells than that to make us what we are – around 100 trillion at the last count.
Humans, plants, fungi and protists are eukaryotes. This means that our cells are larger, more sophisticated and have all our genetic material neatly packaged in a core called the nucleus unlike our less well endowed bacterial and viral acquaintances.
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Like people, some cells are destined for greatness while others will have a more modest existence. Cell-by-dates vary: the foot soldiers of the cellular army such as skin cells exist for just a few weeks. After that they’re dust. Literally. This cellular sacrifice means new recruits can be called up during injury and damage to help repair and renew tissues quickly and efficiently.
By comparison, highly specialised cells, such as those found in the spinal cord and brain, are much more precious and much harder to regenerate. If damage occurs within these structures it can lead to permanent disability, which is why we have a bony skull and spine to protect our most valuable assets.
Stem Cells
The godfather of all cells is the stem cell. This little beauty has the potential to become any of the specialised tissues that make up our organs and other body parts. Stem cells are therefore a cell biologist’s dream. They promise to provide treatments for a range of medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis (an inherited disease), neurological injury and degenerative illness.
Embryonic stem cell research is a highly emotive area fraught with ethical and moral dilemmas. It involves taking stems cells from 4-5 day old embryos which were fertilised in the lab. Research on human embryonic stem cells has been banned in many countries due to ethical concerns.Not so in all countries though. In some foreign climes, coveys over-financed and under-sensed ladies-who-lunch are paying through their perfect noses for foetal stem cell facial injections in an attempt to stave off ageing. Those of us that still can may well raise an eyebrow at this practice.
However, recent advances mean that scientists are getting better at extracting stem cells from adults, which means that the moral problems of growing human embryos in research labs might be sidestepped once and for all.
In a nutshell: the Lego of life
Not to be confused with: Prisoners’ accommodation, terrorists’ get-togethers, mobile communication devices.
Katie's homepage on the Null.
More AtoZs to follow, try expanding your mind:
- Interesting - A is for Amino Acids
- Cool - B is for Black Holes
- Essential - G is for Genes
Or your just expand your conscious:
- Cool - Comparing scientists with other humans
- Weird - Jellyfish slime spells success
- Funny - How big is an iceberg?
Title image: Peter Znamenskiy/W
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