Sunday, January 22, 2012

Lives of A Cell

In this article, Lewis Thomas argues and compares how the world is similar to a cell. I agree with his compassion. Lewis compares how in this big ball of a world that we live in (earth), things like trees supplies oxygen, bacterias to break things down, and water to generate life in order for earth to "live", all help to make the earth function. Just like a cell, which has many organelles like the smooth and rough ER, the lysosome, and many more important part that works together in order for the cell to function and live. Thomas informs his readers and gives them a tour of the cell using metaphor, analogy, and similes to relate it to the earth so the reader can have something interesting for them to connect with.

Cell Poem

A cell cant be seen
but it contains your genes
it might look round like a bean
but its smaller then a ant
each cell have special organs
taught to us by Mr.Morgan
each organ have a job
and they all look like a mob

The nucleoid contains the DNA
Where it is safe and locked away!
the plasma membrane is a barrier
but also act as a carrier
A plant has a cell wall
to protect it incase the plant falls

Mitchondria is the site for cellular respiration
its plant translation is chloroplast
the cytoskeleton extend through the ctyoplasm
tthat can also be in a gelatin

Cellular metabolism Wordle

Wordle: Energy

Cellular metabolism is the total of all the biochemical reactions that took place inside a cell. It includes the reactions used in degrading food molecules, synthesis of macromolecules, and in generating small precursor molecules such as amino acids for the cell. It includes all the reactions that involve the electron transfers.Cellular respiration has metabolic pathways which are sequences of controlled biochemical reactions. Cellular metabolism allows for organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their appearance, and adapt to the environment. Metabolism helps cell control their energy use. Catbolic pathway helps release energy by breaking down complex molecules. Anabolic pathway is a process where energy is consumed to build molecules. ATP is important to the reactions because it is used by most cycles for the cycles to work. ATP helps transfer molecules throughout the cell and help facilitate reactions. Catalyst help speed up reactions without being consumed as energy. Enzymes are proteins that helps chemical reactions.

Cell Wordle

Wordle: cell wordle


Cells are the simplest unit of life. Next are tissues and organs, which are made up of many cells, and then a system, which is run by many tissues and organs There are two types of cells, prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells. Animals have prokaryotic cells while plants, protists, and fungi have eukaryotic cells. There are millions of different type of cells. In our bodies, there are probably thousands types of different cells such as brains cells or liver cells. Animal cells are different from plant cells because plant cells have rigid cell walls that give them structure and support since plants don't have a skeleton but yet they still don't flop all over the place. Nucleoid holds the information of the DNA. Cytoplasm holds a lot of valuable abundance of membranes organelles with their specialized functions to the cell. It also act as a barrier which control what goes in and out of the cell such as nutrients and wastes. Ribosomes are important for protein synthesis. Smooth ER is important to the liver because it detoxify the liver and its cytoplasmic surface lacks ribosomes. Golgi Apparatus is important since it modifies product of ER and sends them to specific locations. Chloroplast is important to the cell because it is the location where photosynthesis takes place. The cell wall protects the cell to prevent excessive water intake that could kill the cell and the plant. Transport protein function by allowing certain molecules to pass through the membranes.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Bacteria Vs. Virus Vs. Prions

Bacteria make up a large part of the domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. They are considered living organisms.  Bacteria are usually a few micrometres long and they have many different shapes from spheres to rods. Bacteria can be found almost anywhere and are everywhere. Bacteria can multiply extremely fast, usually in millions by half an hour. Bacteria are very useful organism. They help break down organic materials which decompose and return nutrients back to the soil. They help make up many food such as yogurts and meat products. Bacteria help preserve food and digest sugars. Bacteria can also be harmful as some can lead to diseases.


Viruses are infection agents with a nucleic acid enclosed in a protein coat. Virus can only live and reproduce inside the living cells of organisms. They are only 20nm in diameter. Viruses can only be seen with a light microscope. Viruses infects can infect any organism including bacteria. They multiply inside cells of organism. Viruses have genomes that maybe consist of double stranded or single RNA or DNA. A virus is determine if it is a virus DNA or a virus RNA depending on the kind of nucleic acid that makes up its genome. Virus spreads very fast as they infect a host cell, inject their genetic information into the host cell to program the host cell to make the proteins and other parts required for new viruses to be assembled (replication and transcription). Once assembled, the new virus articles burst out from the host cell, killing it and going to infect other cells.

Prion is a infectious agent made up of misfolded proteins. Prion are not bacteria or viruses. They are proteins that may seem harmless but in fact, they are rogue agents that influences other normal proteins to become prions. Prions cam cause fatal diseases to the brain and nervous system such as scrapie that are deem untreatable. Prions lack nucleic acids.

http://apbiology.ygoy.com/2010/03/01/what-are-prions/
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/bacterialh.html
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/cells/virus.html
 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/alllife/virus.html

Cell Respiration Vs.Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is the process in which living organism such as plant uses light energy to convert into chemical energy. The input is carbon dioxide(CO2), water (H2O), minerals, and sunlight and the output is carbohydrates (sugar and starch) and oxygen. All forms of life depends on photosynthesis. Autographs and photoautotrophs such as plants, protists, cyanobacteria, phytoplankton, and algae requires photosynthesis in order to make their own food.

Cellular respiration is a catabolic pathway that takes place in a cell or across the cell membrane in order to obtain biochemical energy from fuel molecules and the cell's waste products. Oxygen is consumed as a reactant along with the organic fuel. In cellular respiration, energy is released and stored as "high energy carriers" Animals use cellular respiration to take in in oxygen and create ATP and then exhale the CO2 as waste.

Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are similar because they both transform energy. In photosynthesis, sunlight energy is transformed into glucose in either the light reaction or the Calvin cycle. This is similar to Cellular respiration because in cellular respiration glucose is transformed into ATP through glycolsis or the oxidation of pyruvic acid. They also complement each other and they goes in a circle because in photosynthesis when oxygen is released, humans and mammals breath in that oxygen to start cellular respiration, which is used to break down glucose and as a result releases carbon dioxide as a byproduct. Also during photosynthesis and cellular respiration, electron transport chains and chemiosmosis play a role in the process of ATP.  Photosynthesis has two electron transport chain compare to cellular respiration, which has only one.

http://sciences.aum.edu/bi/bi4523/student/cardwell/phvre.html

Beneficial Bacteria


Lactobacilli Bacteria
They are gram positive anaerobic bacteria located in the lactic acid bacterial group. They are often violet and dark blue. They have a rod shape like appearance. Lactobacilli bacteria main job is to convert lactose into lactic acid. It also helps defend and reduces the effects of an viral infection and helps prevent diarrhea. Lactobacili bacteria also helps defend against foreign toxic intestinal bacteria and provide the body with nutrients. They are located in the small intestines or digestive tract. 
Bifidobacteria
 Bifidobacteria are beneficial bacteria located in the large intestine or the colon. They are gram positive and they are part of the anaerobic branch. They make up the majority of the bacterias in the colon of mammals. Bifidobateria helps balance the bacteria in the digestive tract. They help increase the body's immune system response and prevent harmful enzymes from entering. They also help prevent intestinal infections and helps improve symptoms of diarrhea and constipation.
 
Bifidobacterium Longum
Bifidobacterium longum Bifidobacterium longum is a gram positive anaerobic bacteria. It had a branched rod-shaped appearance. They are found in the intestines of young humans and babies. They produces lactic acid to stop the growth of gram-negative bacterias. They also help digest complex sugars in the human breast milk. They can also help on digestion, reduce inflammation, and lower cholesterol. They are usually in fermented foods but can be taken in supplement form. They thrive on plant fiber.