Biology Assignment One - CELLS

Question One:

Come up with an analogy of an animal cell. You may choose the following methods to present your analogy.

1. A picture with explanation of the different parts
2. Description of the analogy.

In your analogy, you must include the following eight organellesNucleus, Nucleolus, Ribosomes, Rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi Apparatus, Lysosomes, Plasma membrane and Mitochondria

Analogy of an animal cell - Lollipops

Once upon a time, in a faraway island, there was a very famous factory known as the Lollipop Kingdom. Lollipops (Protein) are the peoples’ staple food and they cannot live without it.

In the Lollipop Kingdom lived a beautiful woman, Snow White (Nucleus), who was the creator of the this delicious candy. It is believed that the secret in making tasty lollipops was due to the magical potion (Nucleolus) passed down by her godmother, Cinderella.

Surrounding the Lollipop Kingdom are different flavours of candy canes (Cell membrane), that allows only certain people to enter the kingdom. The floor is made up of one huge sticky piece of liquid (Cytoplasm), which contains all the lollipop-making devices.

The process of lollipop making is a tedious job. The main ingredient of lollipop, sugar and corn syrup (Ribosomes) is produced in the magical potion. The potion uses its energy to combine the sugar and corn syrup into evenly-mixed mixture. Then, the mixture is transported to a cooking pot (Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum) where it is being heated. After being heated at high temperatures, the base of the lollipop is successfully formed.

Now, it is the creativity machine’s (Golgi Apparatus) turn to perform its duty. The solution is transported to the creativity machine for shaping and colouring via speedboats (Vesicles). This is the final stage of lollipop making.

The electric motor (Mitochondria) plays a very important role in this process too. Without it, there would not be energy for the devices to work and of course, there would not be lollipops for you to lick.

At the checkpoint, when the lollipops do not meet certain standards, they will be sent to the incinerator (Lysosomes) where they will be burnt. This is to ensure that only the best are provided for the people out there in Lollipop Kingdom.

The "good" lollipops are then ferried out and distributed to the people. Everyone has a lollipop each, including Snow White and her friends, seven dwarfs. All is happy and the people on the island lived happily ever after.

Kudos to lollipops!

Question Two

C. If animal cells were to have cell walls, what might happen?

The main function of the cell wall is that it provides rigidity to the cell for structural and mechanical support, maintaining cell shape, the direction of cell growth, and ultimately the architecture of the plant. If animal cells were to have cell walls, the animal cell would become very rigid and firm, and would not be as flexible as it was before. When the cells are rigid, i believe that our human body would not be as flexible as we are now. We can still move, but at a much slower pace. We probably cannot run as fast, tyoe as fast, or.. etc. In other words, we will not be that agile anymore.

Another function of the cell wall is that it prevents expansion when water enters the cell. Thus, if cell walls were present in animal cells, we can be sure that the animal cells will not burst when too much water is taken in. Animal cells will burst if there is an excessive amount of water in it as the cell membrane is not strong enough to withstand the pressure. This function would not affect human beings much because there is a very slight possiblity that our cells will take in too much water. Osmosis occurs!

Cell walls protect against infectious agent in the environment and can store carbohydrates for the plant. So, if there were cell walls in animal cells, not only will they be able to store carbohydrates for the animal, but also protect the cell from bacteria invasion. This ensures that the cells are healthy and not get "infected" easily. This would help lighten the job of the cell membrane as the bacteria would not be able to enter. I think the immune system of humans would be stronger and not fall sick easily if cell walls were present.

Note: All those written above is based on what i think and feel. IT IS NOT ACCURATE. It's dumb, i know. But i think it's logical!

Transvestite Snakes

Some male red-sided garter snakes secrete female scents from their skin to seduce unsuspecting male competitors and impel them to exhaust their energy trying to mate with what they believe is a female. With their competitors duped and drained, the 'she-male' snake has a much greater opportunity to approach the real females and copulate with them.

How do they do that ?
If a female is emitting the appropriate pheromone, she is quickly surrounded by a large number of males. This group is called a "mating ball" with 10 to 100 males intertwined with a single female. When the female raises her tail, exposing her cloaca (sexual cavity), the best-positioned male inserts one of its two penises. The other males slither off.

When a chemical cross-dresser slithers into the mating ball, heads begin to turn. The disguised male smells just like a female. Flicking their tongues in the air, the normal male snakes detect the pheromones of a female. Sensing another "female" in the sexual arena, many of the normal males turn their attention to the newcomer.

Male garters that exhibit this trait are more than twice as successful at mating with females!!

Male and female garter snakes share almost all of their pheromones, but exhibit them in different ratios. Zoologist Robert Mason found out that squaline, a chemical exhibited in much lesser amounts in females than in males. When squaline was added to a paper towel soaked in female pheromones, half of the male snakes lost interest and slithered away. Conversely, without the squaline, they were all intensely interested.

Apparently, squaline is what sets males apart from females. It also separates males from she-males. The she-males exhibited male and female pheromones, but more importantly they lacked this male-repelling squaline.

Would the red-sided garter population be overrun with she-males ?
NO, because less than one in every hundred males have this trait!

Source: http://www.discoverychannel.ca/animals/snakeshome/snakearchives/transnake/

HI MISS POH! :D