Cellular Functions - ESO 4 Biology and Geology

What to Learn

In this section - Summary of contents for the current topic.

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The biological meaning of the cellular nutrition, reproduction and interaction.
Cellular nutrition (I): membrane transport of substances.
Cellular nutrition (II): enzymes.
Cellular nutrition (III): the metabolism; anabolism and catabolism in autotrophic and heterotrophic beings.
Cellular reproduction (I): the cell nucleus: DNA, chromatin, chromosomes; haploid and diploid cells.
Cellular reproduction (II): the cell cycle.
Cellular reproduction (III): cancer.
Cellular reproduction (IV): the stages of mitosis; its meaning and role in eukaryotic cells.
Cellular reproduction (V): meiosis: main events; its meaning and role in eukaryotes' gametogenesis.
Cellular interaction: biological meaning and examples in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

Basic Information

In this section - Some relevant information that you should learn.

Vocabulary: Cellular Reproduction

Genetic material	In all cells the genetic material is DNA bound to proteins and organised in chromosomes. Bacteria have one chromosome, while humans have 46 in each cell. Its function is to store, express and transmit to the offspring the instructions that tell how every cell and living being will be self-constructed and how will they work.
Mitosis	Cells with more than one chromosome, once they've synthesised a full copy of the whole set of chromosomes, have to carefully organise their division in order to produce two daughter-cells with exactly the same genetic information. Mitosis is the complex process whereby most eukaryotic cells tackle such a task.

Mind map: Osmosis

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Mind map: Enzymes in industry

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External Links

In this section - External links to Internet resources selected by the author of this website.

Miscellaneous

Cell functions.Membrane transport, cell nutrition and cell reproduction in an easy-to-understand language.

Membrane Transport

How diffusion works.Animation showing the basics behind the diffusion of chemicals in solutions.

How osmosis work.Osmosis is a special type of diffusion which involves movement of water molecules only. Learn about it through this animation.

Osmosis.Advanced video on osmosis, explaining everything you ever wanted to know about it. You may need to switch to full screen mode to prevent overstretching.

How facilitated difussion works.Learn about passive transport through an animation that shows how membrane proteins can help specific chemicals to cross by without consuming energy.

How the sodium-potassium pump works.Learn about the sodium-potassium pump, the main active transport mechanism.

Enzymes

How enzymes work.Animation showing how enzymes catalyse biochemical reactions.

Enzymes, biological catalysts.Excellent and very comprehensive video on enzymes.

Metabolism

When we lose weight, where does the lost weight go?After weeks of trimming a few calories here, exercising a little more there, you put on a pair of jeans, and like magic, the waist has grown. You button them up to behold a welcome space between your belly and the fabric. How did that happen?

Lysosomes.Animation showing how lysosmes are produced and work breaking down big molecular structures for a later use in the cellular metabolism.

Cellular Reproduction

Mitosis and meiosis.Great presentation on the mitotic and meiotic processes, their outcomes and their biological meaning.

The cell cycle.Watch this animation to learn the basics of the cell cycle.

Control of the cell cycle.A good and comprehensive explanation of the different stages of the cell cycle.

How the cell cycle works.Animation showing a detailed view of the cell cycle, including the various steps of cell division.

Mitosis and cytokinesis.Step by step animation of mitosis and cytokinesis.

Comparison of mitosis and meiosis.Animation showing clearly the different pathways and outcomes of meiosis and mitosis.

Movies, Animations and Audios

In this section - Movies, animations and audio files collected from the Internet.

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Membrane Transport

The cell membrane.

Learn the structure, behaviour and biological meaning of the cell's plasma membrane.

Diffusion.

Learn how the molecules of fluids move freely, and which force drives their motion.

Osmosis.

Learn how the process of diffusion can equalize the concentrations of two solutions to either side of a semipermeable membrane.

Passive transport.

Learn how some proteins of the plasma membrane can allow a free movement of molecules in and out the cell.

Active transport (I).

Learn how some proteins of the plasma membrane can pump certain substances through the membrane against the concentration gradient with some contribution of energy.

Active transport (II).

A more detailed view of the process of active transport through the Na/K pump example.

Endocytosis and exocytosis (I).

Learn how plasma membrane sacs can help to transport materials in bulk in and out the cell.

Endocytosis and exocytosis (II).

A more detailed view on the role of the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus and the cell's membrane lipid bilayer in the processes of exocytosis and endocytosis.