Known also as "cytology" is a scientific discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death.
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Connect the inner and outer space of cell with a wire, will there be electricity?
There is a potential difference, but ions can not go through wires, right? Though there is a electric field, but there is no electron source, I am thinking the answer is no, or will there be some ...
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174 views
Effects of exercise on the brain
I am well aware of the phenomenon of neurogenesis induced by exercise, as well as the dopamine release that results from exercise. I am really interested in neuropsychology and the effects of exercise ...
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2answers
343 views
What type of cell do you start with in Meiosis?
Okay, I was learning about mitosis and meiosis in school and had a question. I know in Mitosis you first start off with a Diploid (2N) cell and then end up with two ...
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45 views
Cell cycle selection
Is it possible to select from colonies only cells which are at a certain stage in the cell cycle? E.g. if I was trying to analyse expression of a number of genes during different stages of the cell ...
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1answer
155 views
Do animal cells have vacuoles?
I overheard a rather heated argument about whether or not animal cells have vacuoles.
One person said that they do, but they're much smaller than vacuoles in plant cells.
The other person said they ...
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2answers
492 views
Why can't a human regenerate limbs like some other species?
When a person's arm is amputated, the arm will no longer be able to grow back. However, in salamanders, the arm actually grows back.
In comparison to a human, what is really happening to the cells ...
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3answers
61 views
Simulating Cell differentiation
I'm a computer programmer deeply interested in Biology.
I wish to write a computer simulation for cell differentiation. I understand there will be seemingly impossible challenges in doing this. But ...
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2answers
487 views
Why does alcohol cause the hemolysis of RBC in a large proportion?
I had today an experiment that we put 95% alcohol to the blood which made it completely transparent so hemolysis must have occurred.
I started to think about the reasons.
I think that this is because ...
4
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1answer
51 views
Are there oligocellular organisms in nature and, if so, what are they like?
I'd think protozoans can be oligocellular, but I haven't found any examples, and I'm curious to know what is the minimum number of cells an organism can have other than a single cell.
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1answer
34 views
Experiments in vitro vs those with dead organisms and fixated tissue
Does the term in vitro necessarily imply that the organism/organs/cells of study are dead?
If not, is there an alternative latin term to refer to studies of dead biological matter ? (e.g. in ...
4
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1answer
82 views
How are lysosome membranes protected from the attack of hydrolases?
Lysosomes are a bit like the suicidal bags of cells. They help to clean cells, have an acidic pH and contain a large number of hydrolyzing enzymes.
But why don't these hydrolyzing enzymes attack ...
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1answer
59 views
Would two species of yeast with similar genome sizes have the same number of genes or chromosomes?
Similar organisms generally have similar genome sizes. Given this, would two species of yeast have the same number of genes and chromosomes?
Edit: Fixed with thanks to @daniel-standage
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45 views
In a human, what non-germline cells have the highest/lowest mass?
I'm just curious which cells are largest/smallest in the human body other than sperm/ova.
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1answer
49 views
Where does an organism store reserves of amino acids?
Where does an organism store reserves of the amino acids it needs to build various proteins it needs -- in the liver ? in the blood ? in every cell ?
Thanks
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2answers
78 views
Do any cells change in size or mass as mammals grow?
That is to say, are there cells that, between infancy and adulthood, get larger? Or is all growth done entirely via cell division? I'm wondering if it is safe to assume that the approximate number ...
0
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2answers
90 views
Why do living organisms replicate itself or procreate
Why do living organisms spontaneously replicate itself or "procreate" (my understanding is that it does).
From a uni-cellular and micro-organism point of view. Is there some sort of stimulant in the ...
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1answer
190 views
Methods of nuclear transfection - nuclear transport
I am reading through the ENCODE papers, which is taking me well out of my comfort zone in terms of modern laboratory techniques. At the risk of asking a question which may well be thoroughly answered ...
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1answer
113 views
“Acellular” designation for organisms
Why do some biologists refer to single-celled organisms such as Amoeba and Paramecium as
acellular (i.e., without cells) rather than unicellular (i.e., one cell)?
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270 views
Multi-nucleated cells: advantages and examples?
This question arises because I saw that monocytes and leukocytes are commonly called 'mononuclear cells' in the scientific literature. The implication of course being that other immune sub-types are ...
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3answers
100 views
What gaseous substances do humans emit?
Other than CO2 and Methane what other gases do humans produce or emit?
For example, does skin decomposition, or aerobic respiration emit any special gases that people don't normally realize or know ...
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1answer
39 views
What is the title of Darwin's paper on cellular structure?
I read somewhere that Darwin wrote a paper that dealt with cellular structure, but I've been unable to find the title or contents of the paper because Darwin wrote such a volume of material. What is ...
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0answers
28 views
Patch-Clamping Neurons Resources
Are there any lectures available on Patch-Clamping?
Were can I find a mathematical model of Patch-Clamp? (that can be easily implemented in matlab).
I have found some step-by-step protocols on ...
2
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1answer
37 views
Similarities Between Cells?
Which of the following are usually identical between a lung cell and a brain cell, from the same person, assuming that they are normal (non-cancerous) cells? Circle your choice(s).
...
6
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2answers
128 views
How do cells “know” what “type” to differentiate into?
I have been reading about Townes and Holtfreter's work in 1955, in which cells are dissociated from a blastocyst in an alkaline solution then mixed together and spontaneously reaggregates based on ...
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2answers
97 views
Why is most tissue cellular?
Most tissue is comprised of cells. Why? It would seem inefficient to have so many individual nucleus, membranes, etc.?
Specifically: Not all tissue is cellular. Much tissue is extracellular matrix. ...
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52 views
Can NSAIDs impact negatively the healing of tendons?
There are a number of articles regarding NSAIDs having a negative effect on healing conditions like tendonosis and tendinitis. From what I understand the channel through which they reduce inflammation ...
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1answer
84 views
Is there sufficient evidence that human cells are not intelligent? [closed]
Being structurally composed of one or more cells, which are the basic units of life.
Yet within a cell, there seems to be the same behaviors that define life:
Regulation of the internal environment ...
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1answer
366 views
What is itching?
What exactly at the molecular level is itching? What physiological function does itching serve, if any? I cant remember the reference but a PLCb3 null mice lost the itch phenotype, so presumably it is ...
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1answer
161 views
Does DNA contain information beyond protein synthesis?
It's well known that genetic information is stored in DNA. As far as I know, DNA only has information at the protein level. What about higher levels, such as organelles, cells, tissue, organs? Is ...
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2answers
79 views
What are the different, high-level programs along which a eukaryotic animal cell can follow?
What are the different, high-level, disjunct (mutually exclusive at one particular point in time) programs or pathways along which a eukaryotic animal cell can follow? Examples of programs would ...
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2answers
170 views
Under what circumstances will a human neuron divide?
I read somewhere that a mature neuron loses its ability to divide, except for very specific situations. I was unable to find the description of those situations. What are they?
(I'm sorry I'm not ...
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3answers
221 views
What triggers meiosis in gonadal cells?
What specific biochemical processes are involved in inducing meiosis rather than mitosis? Why are gonadal cells the only cells in the human body which do undergo meiosis?
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1answer
88 views
Macromolecule levels in daughter cells after fission
When a prokaryote undergoes binary fission, how are the non-DNA macromolecules distributed between the two daughter cells? This is motivated by comments on a previous question and a G+ discussion. I ...
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1answer
217 views
How long can a unicellular organism live without nutrition? What happens after that? Does it depend on the domain?
Say I have three unicellular organisms: a eukariote, a bacterium and an archaeon. If I cut off nutrition from them at the same time, how long will it take for them to die? What will their death look ...
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50 views
When should endocytosis inhibitors be used in cell binding assays?
I'm beginning to do some cell-binding assays and I would like for my proteins to not be endocytosed by my mammalian cells. Typical suggestions are for the cells to be kept on ice and that the binding ...
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1answer
228 views
Does every mitochondrion in a cell contain the same DNA?
I know that mitochondria of eukaryotes have their own DNA, more similar to that of bacteria than to the rest of the cell's DNA. I also know that a cell can have plenty of mitochondria, and I ...
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1answer
136 views
Why aren't mitochondria and plastids considered symbiotes of eukaryotic cells?
Mitochondria and plastids have their own DNA, their own membranes, and their reproduction is not tied to the reproductive cycle of the host cell. However, they are considered to be organelles rather ...
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1answer
4k views
How to store vegetables in the refrigerator: In plastic bags or not?
My wife and I are having a debate similar to this one:
I claim that it's better to take the fresh veggies out of the bags and put them in the crisper with humidity control because:
That's what the ...
11
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1answer
72 views
Does a theory exist for the formation of thylakoid structure?
I'm interested in how the structure of the thylakoid forms into its characteristic highly rugose stacks of grana. What causes the thylakoid to invaginate and self-associate, albeit with what appear to ...
6
votes
1answer
68 views
How much energy does a cell expend maintaining its contents?
In software engineering, an analogy is sometimes made using biological cells. I would like to know whether it has basis in fact.
People say (Alan Kay was first) that "objects" in software should be ...
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votes
1answer
172 views
Lifespan of connective tissue cells
This post is regarding a follow up on my initial post on "Properties and life cycle of chondrocytes and tenocytes".
I am elaborating on my question on the lifespan of tenocytes and chondrocytes.
...
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1answer
59 views
Free-flowing cells and those that are stuck together?
I've been thinking about the development of an embryo from the zygote stage.
How is it that when cytokinesis takes place at that stage, the cells all stick together in a little ball, but later in ...
6
votes
1answer
103 views
How are synaptic vesicles brought to the synapse?
I'm reading about how synaptobrevin is used to identify synaptic vesicles for tethering near the synaptic cleft. Since neurons have a synapse and dendrites, I'd like to know how exactly the vesicles ...
7
votes
1answer
136 views
How fast do different organs turn over cells?
It is said that the human body turns over all cells or molecules in 7 year cycles. This is not quite correct, because there are different organs changing at different speeds. My interest is what is ...
7
votes
1answer
128 views
How Do Large Ocean Viruses Form Their Own Organelles?
Several large viruses (Arslan 2011) form their own organelles within the amoebae they invade.
How do these organelles form?
Reference:
Arslan, D., Legendre, M., Seltzer, V., Abergel, C., Claverie, ...
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1answer
78 views
Cell proliferation limit and senescence of embryonic stem cells and fibroblasts
I am trying to understand the importance of proliferation limits and cell senescence. In particular, I would like to compare the proliferation limit of Embryonic Stem cells (ES) and fibroblasts (which ...
5
votes
1answer
147 views
Computational/mathematical models for predicting phenotype from genotype
Karr, Sanghvi, et al. (2012) propose a whole-cell computational model for predicting phenotype from genotype in Mycoplasma genitalium. Their model simulates myriad cell processes such as DNA ...
2
votes
1answer
174 views
Is collagen supplementation useless?
When collagen is digested is it broken up into usable components that the body can use to produce its own collagen?
What evidence is there that supplementing with collagen type I & II etc.. can ...
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0answers
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Properties and life cycle of chondrocytes and tenocytes
Questions regarding chondrocytes and tenocytes:
Do these cells replicate, or are they regenerated from mature stem cells?
How often are these cells regenerated?
How long do they live?
Do they ...
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1answer
235 views
Is there a relationship between efficiency of cellular metabolism and warm-blooded-ness?
My BIO 101 book states that when human cells convert glucose to ATP, the process is only approx 35% efficient, and much of the potential energy is lost as heat. However, that heat is useful to us in ...
