Intro to Living Cells

Cards (11)

  • Cells
    The fundamental unit of all living things on earth
  • What cells do
    1. Take nutrients and free energy from the surroundings
    2. Make copies of nutrients and free energy
    3. Divide to create new cells
  • All living things are made up of cells and cell products
  • Universal features of cells
    • Evolved from a common ancestor cell
    • Surrounded by a plasma membrane
    • Exchange molecules with their surroundings, taking up nutrients
    • Communicate
    • Store hereditary information as DNA
    • Use the same means and code to encode and store hereditary information
  • All life must have derived from a single ancestor
  • DNA
    • Double-stranded polymer of nucleotide building blocks
    • A always pairs with T, C always pairs with G
    • Sequence of nucleotides encodes information for making proteins
    • One gene is one DNA fragment corresponding to one protein
  • Protein synthesis
    1. DNA is transcribed into RNA
    2. RNA is used as a template to make the protein
    3. Ribosomes translate RNA into protein
  • Nucleotides
    • Contain information for making proteins made up of amino acid building blocks
    • Three nucleotides encode one specific amino acid
  • Cells are made from a few simple building blocks
  • Cells divide and die and therefore are constantly being replaced
  • Homeostasis
    The ability or tendency of an organism/cell to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting its physiological processes