An analogy of the cell.
Somewhere in a small corner of Singapore, there exists a fishball factory.
In the factory, the top storey, houses a very big and humming machine ( nucleolus ) that is very essential in the process of fishball making. It makes the moulds ( ribosomes ) for the shape of the fishballs. without the moulds, there would be no fishballs, as no one likes to eat crappy looking fishballs! sorry, i digress.
the moulds, after being made, are transported down a storey, to the main fishball making place ( rough ER ) Here, the moulds are used to make the fishballs ( protein ). after this is done, the fishballs are put into plastic boxes ( vesicles ) to be transported down another storey.
in this storey ( golgi apparatus ), the fishballs are cooked. without being cooked, the fishballs cannot be eaten, and thus this step is essential . this is also the final step in fishball making. at this point, all the ugly fishballs, the rejects that don't fit in, are thrown various rubbish bags to be disposed off.
then, the nice and cooked fishballs are packed into big boxes to be transported out of the high fence that surrounds the factory. ( cell membrane ) the wall was built by the owner of the company to prevent pesky people from getting in and spoiling the fishball making process.
of course, we cannot forget, where does the energy for all these come from? this comes from various generators around the factory ( mitochondria ) that work hard to release energy for everything to happen!
lastly, let's wish this fishball company with good business all year round! :)
If i could come up with a new function for a cell, what would it be?
If i could come up with a new function for a cell, i would make it so that the mitochondria has the ability to generate energy or recycle energy when the cell runs out energy. this is to say, this process would only happen if the cell is realll really in need of energy and the human does not take in food. this can prolong the amount of hours humans can not eat.
which will be good for us students, since now our recess is at 1120. if this really could happen, maybe we wouldn't die of hunger after all.
alternatively, the golgi apparatus can be moved to be joined with the rough ER. this way, there needn't be vesicles to transport the protein to the golgi anymore, it can just be transported inside one big organelle, which i've not come up with a name for. golgiticulum? endoplastigolgi?
oh well, let's just leave the difficult name calling to the scientists. we students should just stick to finishing our biology assignments. which thankfully, i HAVE!
so i shall stop my nonsense and end here :) i hope this post has been educational.
ANYWAY i like bio the best among my 3 sciences, so i really put in effort for this okay! :D
Friday, January 26, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
interesting fact about bio: BIOLUMINESCENCE
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted to light energy.
this is a picture of a beach in California showing glowing waves, because there are billions of dinoflagellates ( a type of marine plankton that bioluminescence ) in the water.
Bioluminescence is actually a form of luminescence, or put into more simple words, "cold light" emission. This is because less than 20% of the light generated contains thermal radiation, as it is converted from chemical energy.
Many organisms have been found to produce bioluminescence, especially deep sea marine creatures. About 90% of these marine creatures have been estimated to be able to produce bioluminescence in a way. The light that these creatures produce are usually in the blue and green light spectrum, which can transmit through water most easily. However, there are exceptions, the loose jawed fish, which emits red light.
Non-marine organisms that bioluminescence are lesser, but there is a larger variety of colours. The most common of these are fireflies and glow worms. There are also other insects, and even fungi that possess bioluminescent abilities.
There is bioluminescence because of adaptations. There are 4 things that it can be used for:
Attraction
Dinoflagellates, the marine plankton, have an interesting use for bioluminescence. When it senses a predator through movement in the water, it lights up. This attracts a even larger predator that will eat up the would-be predator of it.
Another example of attraction is the firefly, which uses its bioluminescent abilities to attract mates in the mating session, by flashes of light in its abdomen.
Repulsion
Squids and crustaceans use bioluminescent mixtures to "spray" at its predator, confusing it and thus letting the organism escape. This is like how the squid uses its ink.
Camouflage
When creatures are in danger of being eaten, they use their bioluminescent abilities to camouflage themselves.
Communication
Bacteria is thought to use bioluminescence to play a role in communication.
Lastly, all cells are produce some sort of bioluminescence, but is often too weak to the naked eye. Many organisms that produce bioluminescence visible to the naked eye have already been listed above.
Bioluminescence is interesting because its LIGHT from nature! :D
information and picture taken from :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted to light energy.
this is a picture of a beach in California showing glowing waves, because there are billions of dinoflagellates ( a type of marine plankton that bioluminescence ) in the water.
Bioluminescence is actually a form of luminescence, or put into more simple words, "cold light" emission. This is because less than 20% of the light generated contains thermal radiation, as it is converted from chemical energy.
Many organisms have been found to produce bioluminescence, especially deep sea marine creatures. About 90% of these marine creatures have been estimated to be able to produce bioluminescence in a way. The light that these creatures produce are usually in the blue and green light spectrum, which can transmit through water most easily. However, there are exceptions, the loose jawed fish, which emits red light.
Non-marine organisms that bioluminescence are lesser, but there is a larger variety of colours. The most common of these are fireflies and glow worms. There are also other insects, and even fungi that possess bioluminescent abilities.
There is bioluminescence because of adaptations. There are 4 things that it can be used for:
Attraction
Dinoflagellates, the marine plankton, have an interesting use for bioluminescence. When it senses a predator through movement in the water, it lights up. This attracts a even larger predator that will eat up the would-be predator of it.
Another example of attraction is the firefly, which uses its bioluminescent abilities to attract mates in the mating session, by flashes of light in its abdomen.
Repulsion
Squids and crustaceans use bioluminescent mixtures to "spray" at its predator, confusing it and thus letting the organism escape. This is like how the squid uses its ink.
Camouflage
When creatures are in danger of being eaten, they use their bioluminescent abilities to camouflage themselves.
Communication
Bacteria is thought to use bioluminescence to play a role in communication.
Lastly, all cells are produce some sort of bioluminescence, but is often too weak to the naked eye. Many organisms that produce bioluminescence visible to the naked eye have already been listed above.
Bioluminescence is interesting because its LIGHT from nature! :D
information and picture taken from :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
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