Why Are Cells Important

Cells are the smallest unit of an organism yet are very complicated and range in function. Why is it important that they survive? Well all living beings are made up of a great number of cells so their health is important. Luckily cells have various ways to stay alive and reproduce. Molecules of life, cell cycle with mitosis, and gene regulation are all important components that support the life of a cell. The basic molecules of life, including proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids all play vital roles in a cell’s life. Proteins are fundamentally the building blocks of cells and have many functions. Proteins are made of one or more polypeptide strands. These strands are long chains of amino acids with many possible sequences. Motor

Cells can communicate with their environment due to protein receptors on the cell membrane that can relay messages into the cell. Digestion is done with the help of proteins called enzymes. Their job is to break down food molecules that are ingested. Another job of the proteins is to transport oxygen through the use of hemoglobin. The next basic molecule is the carbohydrate. They are a key source of energy to the cell and provide some structural support and cellular communication. Carbohydrates are made of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms in the form of a sugar or a polymer of sugars. A monosaccharide is a single sugar molecule, a disaccharide is two linked sugar molecules, and a polysaccharide is three or more linked sugar molecules. The chemical source of energy in carbohydrates is the main source of energy in organisms. Lipids, another molecule of life, includes fats, oils, waxes, and some steroids. Lipids are made of chains of carbon and hydrogen called fatty acids. Lipids are hydrophobic and repel water. Lipids are very important in cell membranes because of the phospholipids that are found there that protect the inside of the cell from its surroundings. The cell membrane is important in

Our genome consists of billions of nucleotide bases and the sequence of these pairs determines the instructions for our life. Cells have ways to determine what genes are expressed and what proteins are made. Gene regulation is influenced by several factors including age, the environment, lifestyle, diet, and many more. These circumstances in life can cause genes to be silenced or expressed over time. Gene regulation is essential for cell specialization in multicellular organisms, so each cell type can perform a specific role. Gene regulation is the process of making different proteins based on the job of the cell. Cells can get signals from inside the cell or outside the cell telling it to make more or less proteins such as when growth factors signal the cell to produce growth factor proteins. The process of protein synthesis occurs through transcription and translation. During transcription, the DNA is replicated and transcribed into mRNA and then introns are removed through splicing. The mRNA formed in transcription is transported out of the nucleus, into the cytoplasm, to the ribosome. In translation, a growing protein chain is made by matching amino acid with the base pair codons on the mRNA strand with the help of tRNA.The operon is an example of gene regulation that bacteria use where they can control the amount of proteins being made with the use of a repressor that can prevent or promote the transcription