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The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'. Most cells are only visible under a microscope.
Cross-sectional view of the structures that can be formed by phospholipids in an aqueous solution. A biological membrane, biomembrane or cell membrane is a selectively permeable membrane that separates the interior of a cell from the external environment or creates intracellular compartments by serving as a boundary between one part of the cell and another.
The proteins, in turn, serve as the machinery which carries out the many chemical processes of life. The cell is the structural and functional unit of life. Smaller organisms, including prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea), consist of small single cells.
Life arose from the Earth's first ocean, which formed some 3.8 billion years ago. [33] Since then, water continues to be the most abundant molecule in every organism. Water is important to life because it is an effective solvent, capable of dissolving solutes such as sodium and chloride ions or other small molecules to form an aqueous solution.
Some proteins have structural or mechanical functions, such as actin and myosin in muscle, and the cytoskeleton's scaffolding proteins that maintain cell shape. Other proteins are important in cell signaling, immune responses, cell adhesion, and the cell cycle.
DNA coding for a protein of interest is now inside a cell, and the protein can now be expressed. A variety of systems, such as inducible promoters and specific cell-signaling factors, are available to help express the protein of interest at high levels. Large quantities of a protein can then be extracted from the bacterial or eukaryotic cell.
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Also meganucleus. The larger of the two types of nuclei which occur in pairs in the cells of some ciliated protozoa. Macronuclei are highly polyploid and responsible for directing vegetative reproduction, in contrast to the diploid micronuclei, which have important functions during conjugation. macrophage Any of a class of relatively long-lived phagocytic cells of the mammalian immune system ...