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The Cell: The Nucleus and the Nucleolus

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I was having a really difficult time trying to figure out a way to present this. The nucleus is complicated. It has a separate membrane, called the nuclear envelope, and has nuclear pores which move ribosomes into and out of the nucleolus, etc., etc... along with other structures that may or may not be important to you. From my experience, what its function is is more important than the finite details of its structure. The nucleus is the castle of the cell. This is the place where all the decisions are made. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or the genes of the cell are in that castle. This DNA tells the cell what it will be, the function of its parts, and when and how often it will divide. "You will be a skin cell and you will divide in 2 weeks to make more skin cells. The ruler has spoken!"  Some cells, such as muscle cells have to produce a lot of ATP (cell energy), where other cells do not. This is also determined by the nucleus. The head honchos determine what work needs to be...
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The Cell: Cytoplasm

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 First off:  What a perfect day to be talking about the GOO of the cell! CYTOPLASM!  You know that egg from the last post. Go ahead and poke it and break the membrane. Watch the clear stuff come out. That is the consistency of the cytoplasm of our cells. It is not a liquid, but not a solid. It is goo.  A lot of people brush over the cytoplasm because it almost seems like a "non-essential", but au contraire, it has a purpose! A few important ones in fact! Going back to the city surrounded by the moat, drawbridge, and fortress walls and guards. We spoke about security of this city, now we are going to talk about the foundation inside the city. Cytoplasm is that foundation that holds the castle, factory, and houses together inside. The castle, factory, and houses are the ORGANELLES of the cell! We will go in depth in future posts about each individual organelle, and how they contribute to the cell, but right now we are focusing just on cytoplasm. This foundation keeps t...
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The Cell: Plasma Membrane

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 Ugh! The dreaded cell! The most basic unit to life, and yet, there is a lot that goes on in it! If the cell doesn't work right, disease and illness arise. So much for basic, right? Well, let's take a step back even further. If we know how each PART of the cell works, we can understand everything from fluid and electrolyte balance, the production of ATP (fancy acronym for cell energy), to function of entire systems of the body! Not basic at all...but we are going to do just that. Make it basic, so an understanding can be formed about how important each part is to sustaining life. So let's hold onto our hats and dive into the Plasma Membrane. When I was brainstorming how I wanted to present the cell, I kept thinking about eggs and then I was thinking about fairy tales. Now, you may be asking yourself, "Liz, how the hell are these two related?" Well...there not. But bare with me, because I am going to use both to demonstrate the importance of the plasma membrane. Be...
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