A cell in biology is a living structure enclosed in a membrane and containing organelles. This is the elementary unit of all living things, combined from organic and inorganic molecules. All organisms, except viruses, are made up of cells. Depending on their number, they are called unicellular or multicellular. It is also interesting why the cell was called a cell. There are two historical versions of this.
Robert Hooke Research
An English physicist who studied the density and elasticity of bodies, was puzzled by the question of why a cork tree floats on the surface of water. In search of a rational explanation, he made a thin section and examined it under a microscope. What he saw clearly explains why the cell was called a cell. On the cut, he examined many cells, which, it seemed to him, resembled monastic cells. Of course, he did not know then that he had never seen the cage itself. But the term, synthesized on the basis of the word "cell", came into use in the Latin version of cell.
On the secondversion, also associated with Robert Hooke, he saw a picture that reminded him of a honeycomb. He gave them the names of the cells, which in Latin sounds like a cell. The very concept of a cell is still identified with a cell, which can be seen in the presented images. This makes it clear why the cell was called a cell.
What did Robert Hooke actually see?
It is known that as a material for research, he used a cork tree, in which the cells had long died. What Hooke saw had the contours of cells (the structure of the cellulose that makes up dead wood). In a plant cell, cellulose forms a cell wall and retains its contours for a long time even after death.
Hook saw just the cellular contours, but he could not recognize the living organelles themselves. First, his microscope did not have sufficient resolution. Secondly, in the cork tree taken as a preparation for research, all the cells have already died. The recognized structures were completely filled with air. He called them cells. Today it explains why the cell was called a cell.
Cell vitality
Biological processes occurring in a living cell require energy. Active transport, protein biosynthesis, growth and cell division - all this requires huge energy expenditure, and replenishable. Their provision is the task of mitochondria - cell organelles capable of carrying out charge transfer through the membrane and restoring macroergic bonds.
BIn this connection, it is not clear why mitochondria are called the cell's battery. These organelles make it possible to obtain energy from glucose molecules by oxidizing it and receiving electrons to restore macroergic compounds. The latter are special energy carriers and are stored on the inner mitochondrial membrane between the crypts. They can be found in large numbers both in the cytoplasm and in the cell nucleus.
Mitochondria are called the cell's battery because of the non-special and optional ability to store ATP and other macroergs. But it is more correct to call them a generator, because they produce energy and restore ADP to ATP. Energy storage, that is, its accumulation, is a side process. This is not a special function of mitochondria, because macroergic compounds are located in different places in the cell. However, neither the cytoplasm nor the nucleus is called a place of energy storage. Therefore, mitochondria should also not be called the "accumulators" of the cell, because they are its "generators".
