The Cell: Cytoplasm

 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 the organelles from injury, kind of like a baby surrounded by amniotic fluid in the womb. Some mom's have literally fallen on their bellies and the baby is like, "I am indestructible in here!" (imagined in a Hulk sounding voice). Same thing inside the cell. It cushions and keeps the organelles in their places. Not only does the cytoplasm keep the organelles in place, it gives the cell its shape. It keeps the city from collapsing in on itself! No pressure!

Cytoplasm is also the medium in which ions, enzymes, and molecules get to where they need to go. These bustling people need to get places. Oftentimes, ions will float freely, but another component of the cytoplasm, which also gives it structure, is the cytoskeleton, which helps transport larger molecules to where they need to go. It looks like a giant spider web (perfect for Halloween), something like this: 


 Spooky, right? Consider this part of the cytoplasm to be the roadways of the cell. Some people would say it is the scaffolding of the cell because it gives the cell structure, hence the reason it is goo and not liquid, but it is more than that, because it can do stuff like this:

That long rope-looking thing is a microfilament. This is a structure of the cytoskeleton. Those stem looking things help move items from one area to another. They literally have feet-like bottoms so it can move along the filament. This is how people move within our city and it is components of the cytoplasm. Not so non-essential after all. 

So, to recap. We have a highly guarded city that has structures that are fixed with a foundation and a roadway system in which people can be transported. This city is EXTREMELY active and never sleeps.

 I can't wait to tell y'all the next part of our city, but because I want my minions to work to get me candy, I will leave it here. All you other parents out there know you do it too! Come kids, go door to door, get the good stuff so I can sneak some pieces out of your bags tonight. What's one or two pieces gone! They'll never know!

I am going to leave this here for people to visualize the bustling town at work a little better: https://youtu.be/tO-W8mvBa78

And as always, leave comments to let me know your thoughts. If you have any questions that I might be able to answer, or you have suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Video reference:

Cell Organelles 2 Cytoskeleton. (2017, March 31). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO-W8mvBa78

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