Cell Biology Week 1 Notes

CRISPR/Cas9 System

• The CRISPR/Cas9 system was developed by scientists who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.
• The main advantage of the CRISPR/Cas9 system is its ability to edit genes with precision and efficiency.

Microscopy

• Pioneering scientists began making the first microscopes in the 16th century.
• Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first person to document human red blood cells.
• Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann famously observed thin slivers of cork under a microscope and coined the term 'cell'.

Electron Microscopes

• The main difference between Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) is that TEM uses a beam of electrons to produce an image of the sample, while SEM uses a beam of electrons to produce a 3D image of the sample's surface.

Cell Biology

• The defining characteristic of prokaryotic cells is the lack of a true nucleus.
• Ribosomes are approximately 20-30 nanometers (nm) in diameter.
• Membranes are approximately 5-10 nanometers (nm) thick.
• Microtubules, the largest component of the cytoskeleton, are approximately 25 nanometers (nm) in diameter.
• Microfilaments are approximately 7 nanometers (nm) in diameter.

DNA Manipulation and Abiogenesis

• Dr. Craig Venter is known for his innovations in the field of DNA manipulation.
• Dr. Craig Venter innovated in the field of DNA synthesis, creating the first self-replicating synthetic cell.
• Harold Urey and his graduate student Stanley Miller demonstrated the possibility of abiogenesis in their classic experiment, showing that simple organic compounds can be formed from inorganic substances.
• The Endosymbiont Theory proposed by Lynn Margulis explains the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts in eukaryotic cells.

Biomolecules

• The unit used to measure biomolecules such as proteins is the Dalton (Da).

CRISPR Applications

• The potential application of CRISPR in health treatments is to cure genetic diseases by editing genes with precision and efficiency.
• The big game changer in DNA manipulation in 2012 was the development of the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which allows for precise and efficient editing of genes.