Biology › Cells, microscopy and biological organisation

Cells, microscopy and biological organisation

Unit B01 · 4 lessons published so far.

• Cell structure: what each organelle is shaped for
  The ultrastructure of eukaryotic cells: nucleus, nucleolus and nuclear envelope, rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus and the…
• Microscopy: magnification, resolution and what you can trust
  The difference between magnification and resolution, how wavelength sets the resolving limit, light microscopes against transmission and scanning…
• Prokaryotic cells and viruses: less machinery, same problems
  The structure of a prokaryotic cell, meaning murein wall, capsule, flagellum, plasmids, circular DNA and 70S ribosomes, compared with a eukaryotic…
• Specialisation: how one genome becomes two hundred kinds of cell
  Differentiation and the control of gene expression in outline; totipotent, pluripotent and multipotent stem cells with their sources; and the levels…

Practical work that lands here

• Optical microscopy and calibrated measurement
• Preparing biological material: squashes, sections and mounts