Copyright 1996 Shawn Glynn

A cell can be thought of as a "factory," with different departments each performing specialized tasks.

All factories have exterior walls that protect and support them and interior walls that create separate work areas. They usually have some kind of production line where a product is assembled and an executive department that decides what product is made. A finishing department processes and prepares the product for shipping, and a packaging department wraps the product.

In addition, a factory has a receiving department that brings in the components it needs to make its product, a communications department that allows it to contact suppliers, and a power plant that provides the energy it needs to run. Finally, a custodial staff keeps everything clean and in good working order.

Cells are very similar to factories. To stay alive and function properly, cells have a division of labor similar to that found in factories. Here, we will examine cells as protein-producing factories.

Cell Structure: An Overview

A cell's plasma membrane regulates what enters or leaves the cell.

The PLASMA MEMBRANE regulates what enters or leaves the cell. It is analogous to the shipping and receiving department of a factory. The plasma membrane also functions as the communications department because it is where the cell contacts the external environment.

The NUCLEUS (or the executive department) runs the cell factory and controls all cell activity. It determines what proteins are to be made and stores all the plans for any proteins that the cell currently makes or has made in the past.

Cytoplasm is the gelatin-like material that is found inside the cell membrane.

The CYTOPLASM includes everything between the cell membrane and the nucleus. It contains various kinds of cell structures and is the site of most cell activity. The cytoplasm is similar to the factory floor where most of the products are assembled, finished, and shipped.

Why is it so important for the cell to be a busy factory? Remember how the second law of thermodynamics states that all things tend to be moving toward a state of disorder? Life, and the cell in particular, beats these odds by continuing to take in "ordered" supplies. It creates more ordered products from raw supplies. It also replaces old and degraded supplies. A cell accomplishes all these tasks by utilizing energy converted from the Sun.

The cell "factory" on this tour contains many interesting departments, all of which are directly or indirectly powered by solar energy. Without energy from the Sun, no life could exist.

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