Human Cells

Authors note: this is a 5 paragraph essay to compare and contrast 4 different cells found in the human body.

           Have you ever wondered how many cells are in a human body? Or what a purpose of a cell really is? A cell is fascinating, they help with many things such as, carrying oxygen throughout the body, help heal wounds, fix broken bones, and there is so much more. There is a cell in the body for everything, there is a cell in/ on everything too. For instance a bacteria is a cell and bacteria is on everything. Although the human body had over 100 trillion cells, there are four very important cells that do very different things.

            First of all, what is a cell? What is the purpose of a cell? “A cell is the basic unit of life” (What is the Purpose of a Cell?). A cell is meant to help and do almost everything. One cell can’t do it all so there is trillions of different cells. Cells are small living organisms that are in everything. Some things are unicellular or are one cell such as bacteria. Other things are multicellular or are made up of more than one cell. Humans are multicellular because humans have about 100,000,000,000,000 cells in our body (What is a Cell?). Cells is the basic thing to life. It is said that life goes the same rate as a cell. Meaning, that cells are living organisms and that if we live from them that they are in everything. The nutrients from food has cells. Because of cells we are able to get energy, nutrients, and able to reproduce because the cell is a life function to help (What is the Purpose of a Cell?). knowing what a cell is and it purpose, there are some very important cells that are needed in the body.

            Secondly, two of the human cells are the Microglial cell and a Dendritic cell. Seeing how rare Dendritic cells are, they were harder to find what they do. The DCs are meant to help bone marrow and help it grow and stay healthy. Seeing how DCs expand will help the bone being healthy and strong with the cell expanding and getting stronger. This cell is to keep nutrients in bone marrow and keep our bones healthy and strong (Wieder). And the Microglial cell is Microglial cells are cells to control and help control the central nervous system in a human body. These cells are to protect and help the central nervous system from any harm, the brain is what controls the system and the cells are meant to help it and protect it. These are only two of the most important cells in the human body.

            And lastly, two more important cells are the Osteoclast cell and the Erythrocyte cell. Erythrocytes or Red Blood Cells make up 99% of all blood cells. Their job is to carry oxygen throughout the body. The shape of the cell makes it easier for them to move through gas changes and go through the blood stream better (Liang). Osteoclastes are cells that are meant to restore bones when something happens to them. They take out everything bad that could get into a bone and potentially ruin it or break it (The cell biology of osteoclast function).

            In conclusion, the human body has more cells than you could ever believe. The human body has over 100 trillion cells! Some are more important than others but the four that I believe are the most important human body cells are Erythrocyte cells for oxygen throughout the body, Dendritic cells to keep our bone marrow healthy and strong, Osteoclast cells to repair broken or injured bones, and Microglia cells to help control the central nervous system. Bacteria consist of one cell; others such as humans consist of 100 trillion cells.

Bibliography

Liang, Barbara. General Anatomy & Physiology General Blood. 17 April 2012 <http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=AP14604>.

Physiology of Microglia. 18 November 2011. 19 April 2012 <http://physrev.physiology.org/content/91/2/461.full>.

The cell biology of osteoclast function. 2000. 18 April 2012 <http://jcs.biologists.org/content/113/3/377.full.pdf>.

What is a Cell? 30 March 2004. 20 April 2012 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About/primer/genetics_cell.html>.

What is the Purpose of a Cell? 20 April 2012 <www.ehow.com/facts_5439557_purpose-cell.html>.

Wieder, Eric. ISCT. May 2003. 17 April 2012 <http://www.celltherapysociety.org/files/PDF/Resources/OnLine_Dendritic_Education_Brochure.pdf>.