1
answer
0
watching
116
views
10 Feb 2019
I'm taking a 3-week Bio I summer course, and my textbook saysthe cell is the smallest/basic unit of life. I asked my professorwhy organelles aren't a living unit, and her reply was that theyaren't self-sufficient. But it seems that cells in multi-cellularorganisms need other cells with different specializations in orderto survive. You can't just (or can't always) pluck a cell out of alarger organism and leave it to fend for itself outside of it. Samewith an organelle. She said only the entire cell fits all therequirements for life, referring me to the textbook, but I couldn'tfind an actual description of these requirements. So, what is therelevant difference between an organelle and a cell such that onlythe entire cell is considered alive?
I'm taking a 3-week Bio I summer course, and my textbook saysthe cell is the smallest/basic unit of life. I asked my professorwhy organelles aren't a living unit, and her reply was that theyaren't self-sufficient. But it seems that cells in multi-cellularorganisms need other cells with different specializations in orderto survive. You can't just (or can't always) pluck a cell out of alarger organism and leave it to fend for itself outside of it. Samewith an organelle. She said only the entire cell fits all therequirements for life, referring me to the textbook, but I couldn'tfind an actual description of these requirements. So, what is therelevant difference between an organelle and a cell such that onlythe entire cell is considered alive?
Lelia LubowitzLv2
11 Feb 2019
