Cells Paper

Ryan Holihan
Due: 10/18/10
Biology 101, section # 11
Instructor B. Hanlon
Cells Paper

Dear Grandpa,
I am so happy that my opinion on things matters to you, especially now that I am a student at California State University, Fullerton.   I will try and do the best I can to help you understand the subject and implications of the article that you recently read about Dr. Craig Venture and how his company reportedly created the first synthetic cell using a bacterial cell (Callaway, 2010).   I will explain what a bacterial cell is and contrast it with a human (eukaryotic) cell, describe exactly what Dr. Venture did with it, explain the potential applications and limitations of this technology, and then I will tell you why I do not think it is anything to worry about, based on data and logic.
First, let me give you a basic, accurate description of what a bacterial cell is from my text book (Cain, Yoon, and Sing-Cundy, 2007) and then I will tell you how it is different from other cells in your body.   A Bacterial cell is a prokaryote: a cell without a true nucleus and other membrane bound cellular compartments.   Bacterial cells are everywhere on earth, including inside your own body, with some evidence showing that they where in existence as long as 3.5 billion years ago, making them one of the oldest living organisms on earth!   Although bacteria is associated with any number of human diseases, such as tooth decay and black plague, there are also certain types of bacteria that are good for us and are essential to good health, such as the kind of bacteria that is in your small intestine which helps aid in digestion.   A basic bacterial cell is delineated by a cell wall which outlines a plasma membrane.   Inside the membrane there are no membrane bound cell organelles’, cytoplasm, ribosome’s, a central region where the DNA is located called the nucleoid (which is not bound inside a nucleus), and flagella which is important for the movement of the bacteria.   The major...