Chapter 5
Eukaryotic Cells
5.1 The Most Wonderful Machine
Going further down from the scale of microorganisms, we now coming to the inner
workings of the most sophisticated machine ever invented: the eukaryotic cell. It is the
most wonderful device that Nature has evolved, more complicated than anything we
have or will ever devise, more complicated than a planet or a star, more complicated
than all the physical laws of the Universe, those we know and those we don’t know
yet or will never know. If there is anywhere in the Universe a finer device, it is
sustaining alien life.
Some might claim that we are more sophisticated than our cells, but all our actions
and thoughts come from their synergy, and we ourselves came from a single cell
containing the development software. Think of a microscopic device containing a
command center (nucleus) with a universal digitally coded program (DNA) that is
able to direct an all-round chemical factory synthesizing proteins on demand and
breaking them after they have served their purpose. A device bound by a shrewd
membrane, able to receive signals affecting the decisions made in the command center, and to send signals to a network of cooperating machines, and to block invasion
by unwelcome guests. A device having its own power plant (mitochondrion), a designated system of energy conversion among several chemical agents, and an internal
communication network serving to distribute material and energy to dedicated destinations. A device capable of reproducing itself at the proper moment and altruistic to
the degree that it is ready to commit suicide (apoptosis) when higher powers demand
it. The exterior of the nucleus is the cytoplasm, a maze of cytoskeletal filaments
immersed in watery cytosol, where all the organelles are located.
The amazing structure of the cell has been honed for eons by unicellular organisms; for them, it is a matter of survival. Animals and plants may not fully use it
in all their cells and all the time – but Nature is conservative, she does not abandon solutions once they have been found to work. Nature cares very much about
this structure, dedicating to it a substantial fraction of genomes, highly conserved
further up the evolutionary tree; it is estimated that between 2 to 5% of the Homo
91
L. Pismen, Active Matter Within and Around Us, The Frontiers Collection,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68421-1_5
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Eukaryotic Cells
5.1 The Most Wonderful Machine
Going further down from the scale of microorganisms, we now coming to the inner
workings of the most sophisticated machine ever invented: the eukaryotic cell. It is the
most wonderful device that Nature has evolved, more complicated than anything we
have or will ever devise, more complicated than a planet or a star, more complicated
than all the physical laws of the Universe, those we know and those we don’t know
yet or will never know. If there is anywhere in the Universe a finer device, it is
sustaining alien life.
Some might claim that we are more sophisticated than our cells, but all our actions
and thoughts come from their synergy, and we ourselves came from a single cell
containing the development software. Think of a microscopic device containing a
command center (nucleus) with a universal digitally coded program (DNA) that is
able to direct an all-round chemical factory synthesizing proteins on demand and
breaking them after they have served their purpose. A device bound by a shrewd
membrane, able to receive signals affecting the decisions made in the command center, and to send signals to a network of cooperating machines, and to block invasion
by unwelcome guests. A device having its own power plant (mitochondrion), a designated system of energy conversion among several chemical agents, and an internal
communication network serving to distribute material and energy to dedicated destinations. A device capable of reproducing itself at the proper moment and altruistic to
the degree that it is ready to commit suicide (apoptosis) when higher powers demand
it. The exterior of the nucleus is the cytoplasm, a maze of cytoskeletal filaments
immersed in watery cytosol, where all the organelles are located.
The amazing structure of the cell has been honed for eons by unicellular organisms; for them, it is a matter of survival. Animals and plants may not fully use it
in all their cells and all the time – but Nature is conservative, she does not abandon solutions once they have been found to work. Nature cares very much about
this structure, dedicating to it a substantial fraction of genomes, highly conserved
further up the evolutionary tree; it is estimated that between 2 to 5% of the Homo
91
L. Pismen, Active Matter Within and Around Us, The Frontiers Collection,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68421-1_5
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021