Studying Cells Tutorial

Introduction
This exercise is designed to review the scientific method and introduce you to the cell as the fundamental unit of life. You should understand the activity of science, the concept of testing what we believe to be true and changing our minds when we are proven wrong. The cell is an appropriate place to start a course of biology--to understand life in a useful and meaningful way, you have to understand the cell. We will show how an experimental approach has allowed great progress in understanding the lives of cells.

The Scientific Method

What is it? The scientific method is the experimental testing of a hypothesis formulated after the systematic, objective collection of data. A scientist who studies our immune system phrased this idea very well:

I now appreciate how much I learn by being wrong. I can change my mind when confronted with a rational argument, without the need to have the change appear to be purely semantic or to hope it will pass unnoticed. What must it be like to be a priest, general, bureaucrat, lawyer, medicine person, or politician who is never permitted to be wrong? No wonder they learn so slowly. I am grateful to be in a profession where the realization of being wrong is equivalent to an increase in knowledge. -Melvin Cohn. Annual Review of Immunology 12, 2 (1994)

The scientific method is often divided into steps. This is helpful for putting the method into context, but keep in mind that the key element of the scientific method is testing the hypothesis. In other words, can you prove that you are wrong? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Observe the situation Ask a question Turn that question into a testable hypothesis Predict the outcome of your experiment Perform your experiment Analyze the results 7. Evaluate your hypothesis Evaluating science

Mistakes made in applying the scientific method to real-world problems can result in unsupported, or even incorrect, conclusions. An example of a scientific conclusions based on insufficient scientific method recently occurred in the field of breast cancer research. Breast cancer is caused when normal cells change and produce a tumor. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (336, 1269 (1997)), scientists from Norway studied the incidence of breast cancer in 25,624 women.

Participants gave details about their height, weight, diets, and exercise habits. The results showed an over all reduction of breast cancer by 37% for women who exercise regularly. Women who are lean and exercise at least 4 hrs per week showed the lowest incidence.

Image courtesy of WebPath

Many newspapers picked up on the data with headlines stating that exercise prevents cancer, but an editorial in the same journal by Dr. Anne McTiernan put the results in proper perspective (ibid. p. 1311). She points out that women who exercise regularly have higher levels of education and income, smoke less, drink less alcohol, and consume fewer calories and less fat. She states that establishing a casual pathway between reduced breast cancer and physical activity will require exploration for biologic mechanisms and confirmation with clinical experiments. Her final conclusion states the situation very well.

Should a woman exercise and will it prevent breast cancer? I recommend a resounding YES to the first question. Regular physical activity in women reduces overall mortality and the incidence of coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, stroke, osteoporosis, obesity, and disability, and it also lessens the impact of arthritis and cognitive decline. With respect to whether exercise reduces the risk of breast cancer, too many questions remain for women and their doctors to make informed decisions on whether, how and how much to exercise. -Dr. Anne McTiernan, New England Journal of Medicine (336, 1311 (1997))

This example illustrates many of the problems associated with the science of biology and medicine.

Size and Biology

Sizes of cells, viruses, and other small things Biology is a visually rich subject area. However, many of the most interesting biological events and structures are smaller than the unaided human eye can see. In fact, human eyes have a resolution of

about 100 m. On the chart below, notice that of all the structures listed, only the plant cell is within our resolution--just barely.

The light microscope The light microscope has a limit of resolution of about 200 nm (0.2 m). This limit is due to the wavelength of light (0.40.7 m). Cells observed under a light microscope can be alive, or fixed and stained

Image courtesy of WebPath

The Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) The Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) has a limit of resolution of about 2nm. This is due to limitations of the lens used to focus electrons onto the sample. A TEM looks at replicas of dead cells, after fixation and heavy metal ion staining. Electrons are scattered as they pass through a thin section of the specimen, and then detected and projected onto an image on a fluorescent screen.
Image courtesy of WebPath

The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) also has a limit of 2nm. Like the TEM, the SEM allows you to look at replicas of dead cells, after fixation and heavy metal ion staining. With this technique, electrons are reflected off the surface of the specimen.

Image courtesy of CIPE

Major Events in Cell Biology

History of studying cells Because of the limitations of the human eye, much of the early biological research concentrated on developing tools to help us see very small things. As imaging technology became more sophisticated, biological discoveries abounded. Below is a timeline detailing some of those major events in biology.

The Cell Theory When Schleiden and Schwann proposed the cell theory in 1838, cell biology research was forever changed. The cell theory states that: 1. All life forms are made from one or more cells. 2. Cells only arise from pre-existing cells. 3. The cell is the smallest form of life. The cell theory also provides us with an operational definition of "life." The tutorial on prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and viruses explores this concept in more detail.

Test Yourself
Use these problems to test your understanding of this material.

Problem 1: The scientific method The activity of the scientific method that sets science apart from many other human endeavors is _________ .
A. making careful observations and keeping careful records.

B. formulating theories that lead to natural laws. C. forming hypotheses. D. experimental testing to support or disprove hypotheses.

Problem 2: Cell theory Which of the following is not a part of the cell theory?
A. All animals are formed by cells. B. Reproduction requires vegetative duplication or the sexual mixing of gametes. C. Cells are the smallest form of life. D. Abnormal cells self destruct by apoptosis.

Problem 3: Cell sizes What are the respective sizes of a virus and a plant cell?
A. 3 mm, 30 mm B. 30 nm, 30 m C. 30 m, 30 nm D. 3 cm, 30 cm

Problem 4: Microscopes What type of microscope would allow you to study the orderly sequence of events that lead to the separation of chromosomes during mitosis? (Chromosomes are found inside of the cell's nucleus.)
A. scanning electron microscope B. light microscope

C. transmission electron microscope D. long-range telescope