Cell Theory and its Effects
An Introduction about the cell theory
The cell theory contains three parts:
1. All cells contain one or more cells.
(Schleiden & Schwann)(1838-39)
2. The cell is the basic unit of life in all living things.
(Schleiden & Schwann)(1838-39)
3. All cells come from pre-existing cells
(Virchow)(1858)
Cells are named after the rooms monks pray in because scientist Robert Hooke thought they
looked like little compartments. Although there are many specialist cells that form different
living organisms most of which have a cell membrane (the skin and the gatekeeper of the cell), a
nucleus (the boss of the cell) and cytoplasm (the body of the cell).
Scientists including Robert Hooke and Anton van Leeuwenhoek helped make the cell theory.
Because of their discoveries they also helped create the base for understanding genetics, cloning
and animal breeding, forensics and medicine in today’s world. Without it we would not
understand how living things generate and what they are made of.
Genetics
Genetics tells us characteristics of living things. It tells us if we are a girl or a boy, if we have
green eyes from one of our relatives. First of all a girl is made of XX chromosomes, a boy is
made of XY chromosomes. Your chromosomes, all 42 of them, are located in the nucleus of
each cell and are passed down from your parents. They are passed down from parents to children
sometimes skipping a generation or two because that part of your DNA may be switched off.
Genetics are determined by your DNA which is coiled around proteins and then coiled to make
your chromosomes. Genetics also help tell how animals evolved, as there are natural changes to
protect and adjust to their environment. So ducks got webbed feet, cats got retractable claws and
Our Chromosomes and DNA
many other animals evolved through the generations. In genetics there
can be a mutation which means DNA in the cells was changed or
damaged and which might make a unnatural change, like Stumpy the
four-legged duck (2007). The cell theory has helped impact the thought
about genes and DNA because without it we wouldn’t know why some
people have green eyes and others have blue eyes or why some people
are tall and others are short. We can now predict what people will look
like from their parents genes, and if they might inherit a disease from
their parents.
Cloning
The process of Creating Dolly the Sheep
Cloning is to make a copy of an organism using only cell
parts of that organism.
Because we know how cells work, scientists have cloned
many animals including a camel, and a cat. It all started
with a mother Finn-Dorset sheep. The nucleus from her
egg cell was taken and put into the surrogate mother’s
(Scottish black-face ewe) cytoplasm (of her egg cell). They
used an electric shock then put the cell back into the
Black-face ewe. Dolly the lamb was born July 5, 1996, Scotland, United Kingdom she looked
like the sheep who had given the nucleus. She was normal sheep and she lived a normal life and
had 6 lambs (Bonnie, Rosie, Lucy, Sally, Darcy and Cotton). She died February, 15, 2003 and
she was euthanized because of chronic arthritis and a lung disease called Jaagsiekte. She may
have died at a young age of 6, but her body is kept at the National Museum of Scotland and will
stay there permanently.
Clones are animals that look alike right? Well not always. One clone named Carbon Cat/ Copy
Cat (CC) looked different from its mother cat, named Rainbow, whose DNA had made CC. They
think this is the case because cats’ fur colour is not only related to genes, but to their
environment and how they developed before they were born. Another strange clone is ANDi the
Rhesus Monkey who had a bit extra of the gene Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) added to
genetically modify it. GFP occurs naturally in jellyfish and it can be seen under a microscope.
The Rhesus Monkey shares 95% of its genes with humans, that’s why they made a clone because
it will lead us closer to cloning humans. The first
canine to be cloned (Snuppy), bred with another cloned
dog, the first ever dog clone breeding. He is an Afghan
Rainbow
CC’s
surrogate
mother
Carbon Cat
Hound, but was born by a Labrador Retriever. This is
an important part of history because with this
knowledge we will eventually be able to clone humans.
The way the cell theory has helped us clone animals is we would have never known where
genetics came from, now we know genetics are stored in our tiny chromosomes. Without the cell
theory we wouldn’t have known how clones are made and maybe in the future we can use
cloning to recreate humans that are ill or dead.
An important thing is that without the cell theory we wouldn’t understand genetics.
Medicine
The cell theory has also helped us understand diseases better and how to treat some. We are still
learning how to cure a person from cancer which is a disease of the cells. Cancer is a disease
where cells don’t go through apoptosis (normal cell death). The cells grow faster and multiply
faster than normal cells forming tumors that harm the normal cells and damage body tissue.
Sometimes the cells can break off the tumor and spread, this is called metastasis. Cancer can
grow all over the body from many different kinds of cells.
There are ways to treat cancer. Chemotherapy is when a catheter is used to inject special
medicine that kills cancer cells. Then there is also
Lung Cancer Cell Dividing
radiation which uses high level energy waves to kill the
cancer cells. There are also side effects like loss of
appetite, tiredness, vomiting and hair loss because these
treatments also kill some healthy cells. If we didn’t have
the cell theory we wouldn’t know what cancer is and how to treat it. Many other diseases also
affect cells, but cancer is one of the diseases that we don’t know why it occurs. Without the cell
theory cancer would be unpredictable and untreatable because we can predict cancer growing
because we know to look at blood and tissue under a microscope for cancer cells.
Forensics
Forensic science is the study of clues in a crime scene. Scientists use the DNA from the crime
scene to locate, figure out how the crime was done and who the criminal was. DNA can be
obtained from: hair, skin, blood and other bodily fluids. In blood cells DNA is only in the white
blood cells (which have a nucleus) because red blood cells don’t have nucleuses. Humans have
four main blood types: A, B, AB and O. Blood from a crime scene can help identify the criminal
or victim. One way to determine blood type is looking on the surface of a blood cell for specific
antigens, a substance which is on the red blood cell membrane. Hair is not so good for DNA
testing because the cells in hair don’t have the parts used for criminal investigation, but hair can
be used if the root is there. That is because the root is connected to the bloodstream which has
white blood cells. Humans shed thousands of skin cells a day so this makes skin cells a good
sample to find DNA. Skin cells have been found on gun grips, baggage handles, eating utensils
and steering wheels. One technique of DNA sampling is “touch DNA” where a small amount of
cells can be used for multiple reasons (criminal, victim, etc.) to find DNA. The cell theory is
very important to forensics because without the cell theory we wouldn’t know all living things
are made of one or more cells and that is important because DNA taken from cells can be used as
clues in criminal investigations. Without the cell theory criminal investigation could have been
just guessing or using less specific clues (e.g. a glove left at the scene of the crime).
So the cell theory has made a great impact on medicine, cloning, forensics and the understanding
of genetics by improving our understanding of DNA and humans. Without the cell theory in
forensics, forensics wouldn’t be a science. Nor would animal breeding and cloning, or we
wouldn’t know what cancer is or how mutations form. Thanks to the cell theory we have the
understanding of many types of science, and everything revolves around science.
Bibliography

"Blood Analysis." ORACLE ThinkQuest. N.p.. Web. 3 Sep 2013.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00206/text_pti_blood_analysis.htm>.

Carr, Steven. Rainbow & "cc", the world's first cloned cat. 2009. Photograph. n.p. Web.
27 Aug 2013. <http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Cloned_Cat.html>.

Caywood, Emi, ed. "What is Cancer?." Kids Health. Nemours, n.d. Web. 4 Sep 2013.
<http://kidshealth.org/kid/cancer_center/cancer_basics/cancer.html

"Cell Theory Timeline." Softschools.com. N.p.. Web. 4 Sep 2013.
<http://www.softschools.com/timelines/cell_theory_timeline/96/>.

Dolly_clone. 2008. Graphic. Wikipedia Web. 4 Sep 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dolly_clone.svg>.

Edmonds, Molly. "What is Apoptosis." How Stuff Works. N.p.. Web. 4 Sep 2013.
<http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/apoptosis.htm>.

Gschmeissner, Steve. Lung Cancer Cell Dividing. 2013. Photograph. Science Photo
Library Web. 8 Sep 2013. <http://mostlyscience.com/2013/02/lung-cancer-celldividing/>.

Hughes, Caroline. "Challenges in DNA Testing and Forensic Analysis of Hair Samples ."
Forensic Magazine. 04 02 2013: Web. 4 Sep. 2013.
<http://www.forensicmag.com/articles/2013/04/challenges-dna-testing-and-forensicanalysis-hair-samples

Lei, Housey. "Scientists clone world’s first pashmina goat." Design Your Trust. N.p..
Web. 4 Sep 2013. <http://designyoutrust.com/in-the-nature/scientists-clone-worlds-firstpashmina-goat/>.

Levine, Russell. "The Slow Death of Spontaneous Generation." Access Excellence
Resource Center. National Health Museum. Web. 4 Sep 2013.
<http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BC/Spontaneous_Generation.php>.

Lyle, Douglas. "Forensics: Fingering Criminals Using DNA." For Dummies. n.d. Web. 4
Sep. 2013. <http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/forensics-fingering-criminalsusing-dna.html>.

"Medicine in the 19th century." Planetseed. Schlumberger Excellence in Education
Development, Inc., n.d. Web. 3 Sep 2013.
<http://www.planetseed.com/relatedarticle/rise-scientific-medicinethe-nineteenthcentury>.

Morgan, Sally. Cells And Cell Function. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2006. Print.

Snedden, Robert. Cell Division and Genetics. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2003. 24-26.
Print.

"What Animals That Have So Far Been Cloned." . N.p., Online Posting to Blurtit. Web. 4
Sep. 2013. <http://www.blurtit.com/q3620717.html>.

Wikipedia contributors. "ANDi." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 13 November 2012.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANDi>.

Wikipedia contributors. "CC (Cat)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 7 June 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CC_(cat)>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Cell Theory." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 August
2013. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_theory>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Dolly (sheep)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 18 August
2013. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep)>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Phenotype." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 September
2013. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenotype>.

Williamson, Angela. "Touch DNA." What is Touch DNA? (2013): Bode Technology.
Web. 4 Sep 2013. <http://www.bodetech.com/forensic-solutions/dna-technologies/touchdna/>.

Winston, Robert. Evolution Revolution: From Darwin to DNA. New York: DK
Publishing, 2009. Print.