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Barbaralufty
 CELLS
Units of life
by .

Barbara Tufty

Diverse though life is on our planet, all of

it contains a universal core— the living

cell. These microscopic elements can move,
eat, grow, and reproduce as a single indi-
vidual. Billions of them can unite and co-
ordinate to perform specialized tasks in
order to function as a complete coherent
organism. Author Barbara Tufty tells here,
clearly and absorbingly, how today's sci-

entists are using modern tools to solve the

complex mysteries of life.

Illustrated by Feoder Rimsky

Jacket design by
HoNi Werner

12 up

$4.49
This is a
PUTNAM
Guaranteed
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^0V07 1989
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DEC 71983
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DEC i 6 19971
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CT 1 i 1999

J Tufty, Bi
574.8 Cells: units of life. Illustrated by Feoder Kimsky. Now
York, Putnam [1972, cl973]
126 p. illus. 24 cm. $4.49

SUMMARY: Discusses the structure and activities of cells and

includes information on RNA, DNA, chromosomes, and death-
Bibliography p. 121-122. :

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1. CytuloAT Jw venile
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atu r e. -
[1. Cellsj ieK=^^
•ttttwr- Title.

QII582.5.T83 1973 574.8'7 70-182996

ISBN 0-399-20311-7 ; 0-399-6079a-6 (lib. bdg.) MABO
STJlO/73
)
Library of Congress '^ i^i AC
 Cells: Units of Life
About the Book

Diverse though Hfe is on our planet, all of it contains

a universal core — the living cell. These microscopic ele-

ments can move, eat, grow, and reproduce as a single

individual. Billions ofthem can unite and coordinate to
perform specialized tasks in order to function as a com-
plete coherer^t organism. Author Barbara Tufty tells
here, clearly and absorbingly, how today's scientists are
using modern tools to solve the complex mysteries of
life.
 CELLS
Units (rfLife
by
Barbara Tufty

Illustrated by Feoder Rimsky

JL

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK

 Copyright © 1973 by Barbara Tufty

All rights reserved. Published simultaneously

in Canada by Longman Canada Limited, Toronto.
SBN: GB-399-60798-6
SBN: TR-399-20311-7
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 70-182996

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

12 up
 Contents

Introduction 7

1 Knowing the Cell 9

2 Cell Structure 21

. 3 Energy for Survival 31

4 Proteins, Enzymes, and RNA 41

5 Blueprint for Heredity —DNA 53

6 The Reproduction of Life 69

7 Progress Through Specialization 85

8 Controlling Cell Behavior 97

9 The Death of the Cell 111

Bibliography 121

Index 123
 Introduction

Within the primeval atmosphere of the earth eons ago,

drifting organic compounds, sparked with energy from
Ughtning or the sun's radiation, began combining and
recombining with one another in every conceivable
composite. As more eons passed, small molecules united
to form larger molecules, and gradually these primordial
clusters became more definite in shape and began per-
forming basic activities of moving, growing, reproducing
—forerunners of everything that lives today.
The enormous diversity of life on our planet is appar-
ent to us all. Yet with all its vast complexities, all life

contains a universal core — the living cell.

Not only can these tiny microscopic elements move,

ingest food, metabolize, grow, and reproduce as a single
individual, but billions of them can unite and coordinate
to perform specialized tasks in order to function as a
complete coherent organism. With amazing complex
processes involving intricate patterns and chemical and
physical balances now being unfolded beneath modern
tools of today's scientists, individual cells divide and
differentiate into specialized tissues for carrying out life's
profuse functions — contraction, transmission, sensitive-
ness, secretion, thinking.
One of the planet's most remarkable events is this
emergence of the highly complex multicellular organism
—
from that single tiny unit of life the cell.
 1

Knowing the Cell

Once the earth was without Hfe. And then life ap-
peared. Today nearly everything we describe as "living"
is composed of one or more units called cells, capable of

producing new individuals essentially like themselves.

—
But from where on an inhospitable planet of barren
rock, drifting gases, and dark seas—came the first cells of
life?

The First Cells

Throughout history, several appealing but ultimately
unsatisfactory theories have attempted to resolve this
provocative question of the origin of life. Ionian philos-
ophers of the Greek islands suggested that life originated
from sea slime activated by heat, sunlight, and air. Other
ancient Greek philosophers envisioned an entire uni-
verse permeated by tiny "seeds of life." Several centuries
later, Aristotle talked about the wondrous properties of

air, water, fire, and earth which, he believed, could evoke

life from lifeless matter. In many religions throughout

the world — Jewish, Moslem, Hindu, Christian —

the no-
tion of divine creation was a popular explanation for the
origin of life from lifeless matter such as clay, rock, dust.
The doctrine of spontaneous generation — life arising
chemically or physically from inanimate matter — devel-
oped from theories of the ancient Greeks. This doctrine
was still being accepted in the early seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries by such eminent thinkers as the
French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes
and the British mathematician Sir Isaac Newton. Misled
by the discovery of microorganisms (also called germs)
in decaying matter, many early scientists concluded that
a mysterious "vital force" could indeed generate life

from lifeless matter. For example, it was accepted that

maggots were directly produced from meat exposed to
warm air. However, around 1660, Francesco Redi
proved that this was not the case. He placed meat in a
gauze-covered jar. Flies, attracted by the odor of the
meat, deposited their eggs on the gauze, and maggots de-
veloped. This experiment settled the issue for macro-
scopic forms of life but not for microscopic forms. Surely
the insignificant microscopic forms of life needed no
parents! The controversies of spontaneous generation
raged on many fronts throughout the eighteenth cen-
tury, and even in the nineteenth century spontaneous
generation theories continued to have passionate sup-
porters.
Then, in the early 1860's, the French chemist Louis
Pasteur demonstrated how germs present in the air settle
on surfaces and cause organic matter to ferment and
decay. In well-known experiments, Pasteur showed how
no organisms formed when fermentable fluids were
boiled several times in a container, then left capped, un-
exposed to air. When the bottles were uncapped, organ-
isms from the air settled on the fluids, and fermentation
began. Still, people were not convinced. Then Pasteur
devised the ingenious experiment of using a goose-
necked open to air but constructed in such a way
flask,

that the dust and bacteria settled in the bottom of the U-

shaped neck and did not reach the sterile medium. By
this method, Pasteur seemingly contradicted forever the
concept of spontaneous generation and established as a
law of life that living things come only from other living
things; tl^at they do not spring from alien dead matter.

10
He also demonstrated that if microorganisms are filtered

from air, life will not appear on the dead organic matter
exposed to that air.
In today's efforts to determine how life began, how-
ever, scientists have recently dusted off and updated the
long-discredited doctrine of spontaneous generation.
In 1952 an American chemist named Stanley Lloyd
Miller set up a flask and some glass tubing through
which was circulated simple materials that, it was hy-
pothesized, probably made up the earth's primeval atmos-
phere. It was known that these materials water vapor, —
hydrogen, ammonia, and methane would eventually —
combine in the laboratory to form more complex sub-
stances. If exposed to an energy source, the materials
would combine considerably faster. A likely source of
energy in the early days of the earth. Miller decided, was
electricity from lightning.
And so the enterprising chemist created miniature
lightning storms in his apparatus and subjected his mix-
ture to electrical discharges for about a week. To every-
one's amazement. modest experiment resulted in
Miller's
the synthesis of (carbon-containing) com-
organic
pounds, particularly traces of amino acids, which are
found in nature as part of every living organism. Other
investigators achieved similar results by using a compo-
nent of sunlight (ultraviolet rays) instead of electricity
as a source of energy.
If the general conditions of the earth's early atmos-
phere resembled those in the laboratory experiments,
then organic compounds —
basic to the development of
life —could have been spontaneously produced within
the atmosphere by some sort of energy such as lightning
or electrical discharge, or radiation from the sun, some-
time after the birth of our planet, four to five billion
years ago. The combining and recombining of these
organic compounds then continued as the planet cooled,
as its red-hot volcanos and lava subsided, and as its vast

11
overlying clouds released torrents of rain. The churning,
changing processes continued as the rains fell with furi-
ous intensity for many millions of years and filled the
ocean .basins. They continued as rays of the sun, no
longer blocked by world-enveloping cloud banks, shone
down on the sun-drenched earth.
Washed from the atmosphere by persistent rains, the
compounds svnthesized by lightning or radiation ac-
cumulated in the warm waters of the sea, forming a tepid
organic soup. Small molecules united and became larger,
more complex molecules. Eventually, certain compounds
drew together, establishing a vague and then increasingly
clear distinction between themselves and the surround-
ing environment. Occupying a definite space and sepa-
rated from the external environment by a thin covering
of molecules, each cluster of compounds took on a sepa-
rate identity.
These primordial clusters can probably be equated
with what are today called coacervates, droplets of col-
loidal material which are separated by a film of mem-
brane from the watery medium in which they float.
Coacervate droplets look like living cells, but they are
not. And neither were the primordial clusters but they —
were getting there.
During these early eons of our planet, the coacervate
clusters that survived were those that could best utilize
substances of the environment for their growth and de-
velopment and could evolve complex, stable, and effi-
cient chemical reactions essential to meet vital needs.
Eventually, as the density of the food supply available to
the various species of coacervates decreased, the more
active, stronger coacervates took their necessary sus-
tenance from the environment at the expense of the less

resourceful or weaker coacervates. Even at the threshold

of life, survival of the fittest was nature's law.
Nourishing themselves from the nutrients of the sea,

i. 12
the surviving coacervate droplets grew in size and even-
tually broke up into smaller droplets as a result of physi-
cal laws related to size, weight, and surface tension. Some
of these smaller droplets carried with them certain sub-
stances and characteristics of their parents. Thus, there
occurred a remarkable biological phenomenon: the
capacity of a substance to produce its own kind. The cell-
like coacervates developed into unique substances that
had the capacity to grow and reproduce, to be distinct
from the environment, and to adapt to it. This was the
threshold of life^the borderline of evolution of the non-
living into the living.
These first self-replicating substances, more primitive
than anything described today as living, are responsible
for paramecia and palm trees, penguins and poets — all

that is or ever was alive.

This concept of the evolution of life is the currently
held view of many scientists. It is indeed spontaneous
generation, but without the flashiness of a conjurer's
magic trick, in which nonlife turns into life before the
eyes of the beholder. Instead, the development of primi-
tive living cells from inanimate organic compounds is
seen as the result of complex and intricate processes and
mechanisms which scientists have not yet fully under-
stood. Perhaps these or similar processes have been or are
being dupHcated in other parts of the universe. We still
have much to learn about the evolution of life on this
planet and the possible evolution of other forms of life
on other objects in the universe.
Many scientists reason that the life process as we know
it on earth was inevitable, for every type of molecule
floating in the ancient seas had time enough to combine
with every other molecule. Eventually, during those mil-
combinations were tested. In-
lions of years, all possible
evitably, afew remained stable. The most stable ones
endured and developed. Life was originated.

13
 Hooke chose the name "cell"
to describe thechambers he
observed when peering at
slices of cork through his

microscope.

This remarkable process may perhaps be repeat able. It

can be repeated in a nonliving world where compounds
are able to develop unharassed into a living system. On
today's living earth, however, any new form of basic life
may not have a chance to evolve. Ambitious organic sub-
stances with potentials toward lifehood would be gob-
bled up promptly or absorbed by rapacious, competitive,
and powerful organisms that have already estabhshed a
monopoly on life.

Cell Theory
Modern cell theory embodies three basic and simple-
sounding ideas. First, all organisms are made up of cells,

and the activity of an organism depends on the activity of

its cells —with the possible exception of viruses, as will be
discussed later. Second, the continuity of life involves
cellular activities. Third, the biochemical activities of
every cell are determined by cellular structures organ-
ized to do a definite task in a definite way.
The word "cell" (from the Latin cella — a small
room) was first introduced to the world of science in
1665 by the British physicist Robert Hooke. Hooke gave
the name "cell" to the tiny chambers he observed when
peering at slices of honeycomb-patterned cork through
his newly invented microscope.

14
 .

During the seventeenth century, with the advent of

microscopic research, many European scientists de-
scribed the various cells they saw. With the increasing
power of the microscope in the eighteenth and nine-
teenth centuries, scientists observed the cellular organi-
zation of tissues and began to recognize the universality
of cell structure in all livingBut they had
things.
reached, as yet, no clear definition of a cell and no real
understanding of cell behavior. Then, about 1838, owing
mainly to the independent and parallel studies of the
German scientists botanist Matthias Schleiden and zo-
ologist Theodor Schwann, cells were definitely consid-
ered as the fundamental structural and functional units
of all basic plant and animal life. This cell theory, as
momentous a concept as Charles Darwin's theory of evo-
lution, consolidated and synthesized all preceding cur-
rents of biological thinking.
About twenty years later, Rudolf Virchow, a German
physician, added an important postulate to the cell the-
ory when he asserted that all cells arise from preexisting
cells. In 1890 scientists recognized that the nucleus of the
cell plays the guiding role in reproduction. At the turn
of the twentieth century, theories of cell inheritance ear-
lier postulated by the Austrian priest Gregor Mendel
were rediscovered and their importance recognized. Sub-
sequently, particular elements within the nucleus were
studied closer for their role in reproduction: Chromo-
somes, detected in 1873 by Anton Schneider, Walther
Flemming, Otto Butschli, and others, were further ana-
lyzed for their behavior in cell division by Walter S. Sut-
ton and associates in 1902; genes, studied by German
biologist Wilhelm L. Johannsen in 1909, were diag-
nosed for their transmission of heredity by Thomas
Hunt Morgan and associates around 1910; and recently
the complex role of the remarkable deoxyribonucleic
acid, DNA, the prominent constituent of chromosomes
and the nucleus, has been unraveled (Chapter 5)

15
 The science of biology —and certainly the study of
cells — is different today from what it was 100 or even
25 years ago. Nevertheless, all current investigations into
the molecular structure and behavior of cells have devel-
oped from the cell theory crystallized in the nineteenth
century. From this theory arise today's studies that seek
the solution oi that fundamental biological mystery: the
nature of the reproduction of life.

Tools and Techniques

Cells are, for the most part, exceedingly tiny. Most
cells cannot be seen inany detail by the naked eye. A
variety of methods, however, has permitted scientists to
unveil the minute activities of the cell. By peering
through microscopes, slicing tissues, fixing, staining,
centrifuging, and tagging them with radioactive mate-
and making cultures, scientists have assembled an
rials,

imposing file of facts on the way cells are made and how
they behave.
The first optical magnifying instrument to examine
minute structures was produced in the 1590's, and the
compound microscope appeared in 1610. Since then,
microscope makers have sought to provide these instru-
ments with clearer resolving power in order to distin-
guish distinct images of objects that are very close to-
gether, with higher magnification or enlargement of
these images, and with sharper contrast between the ob-
served object and its background.
Until fairly recently, scientists relied exclusively on
the ordinary light microscope, which uses visible light to
distinguish cells. This type of microscope is still an im-
portant tool, but it has serious limitations. Its magnifica-
tions (1,000 to 2,000 times the size of the object) reveal
broad structures of the cell, but details of the cell's inte-
rior can be perceived only dimly or not at all. Also, be-
cause most living cells are transparent to visible light, a
cell must be killed and stained to show its major struc-

tured. Consequently, prepared sections may exhibit ab-

16
normalities or artificial appearances caused by technical
procedures.
Newer microscopes manipulate light in various ways,
permitting one to view the living cell in action. These
instruments include phase-contrast, interference, polar-
izing, and fluorescent microscopes.
Today the electron microscope one of the most vital
is

tools of the cell biologist. Developed about thirty years

ago, the electron microscope relies on beams of electrons
instead of light waves to penetrate the object to be
viewed. The wavelength of a beam of electrons is about
one-hundred-thousandth that of the average wave-
length of white light. The main advantage of the elec-
tron microscope is its ability to provide magnifications of
up to 200,000. Its main disadvantage, however, is that it
can provide images only of replicas of dead cells or struc-
tures, not the actual image. Electrons will not penetrate
tissue, even one cell thick, to give a type of picture de-
sired. Therefore the must first be freeze-dried in a
cells
vacuum, coated with atoms of palladium, platinum, and
then a layer of carbon. The cell is digested away, leaving
a thin replica of the cell which can be probed by elec-
trons. The magnified images appear on a fluorescent
screen which resembles a television screen. Electron
—
micrographs photographs of these images can then be —
taken for further enlargement and more detailed study.
The electron microscope has become considerably
more valuable with the development of improved cut-
ting or slicing techniques that can yield ultrathin slices
of a cell. Thus a section of a cell that once could be sliced
into only six or seven pieces can now be divided into
some six hundred cross sections.
By techniques of fixation and staining, scientists are
able to obtain better observations of cells. The fixation
or setting of cells, usually with chemicals, can serve vari-
ous purposes. It preserves certain selected cell features in
a "lifelike" state. It prevents the cell from decaying; re-
duces shrinkage and distortion; increases the visibility of

17
cell components; and prepares the cell for staining. The
staining of cells helps reveal cell structures by various
colors. Staining may detect the presence, quantity, and
location of certain cellular substances or organelles such
membranes, and chromosomes simply by
as nuclei, cell
showing them up in colors or shades different from the
rest of the cell.
4

In still another type of examination, living cells are

ground up, mixed in a solution, and separated by a cen-
trifuge spun at various speeds. When centrifuged at low
speeds, the heavier portions of the ground-up cells settle
out; at higher speeds the Hghter portions settle out. After
various components are separated from one another, sci-

entistscan chemically analyze them and find out what

biochemical activities they may be capable of perform-
ing.
Another valuable technique for studying cells includes

the use of various radioactive trace elements. For ex-

ample, one important method is the autoradiography
technique in which the components of a cell are bom-
barded and tagged with radioactive atoms and then fol-
lowed with Geiger-counter-like equipment as they par-
ticipate in various cell processes.
In the process called culturing, and tissues are
cells
taken from the body of the organism and grown in a
nourishing medium under laboratory conditions. There
scientists are able to study and observe the behavior of
the cells and tissues in processes such as metabolism,
growth, and cell division.
In the past, biology and chemistry were considered
unrelated sciences. The biologist studied the structure
and development of plants and animals, while the chem-
ist studied their chemical constituents without regard to
overall life processes. Modern tools and techniques today
enable biologists and chemists to work together and
present unified, many-faceted views of the life, growth,
behavior, and death of a cell.

'
18
 Muscle

Epithelium from
cheek lining

Cells come in many varieties of shapes.

Varieties of Cells
Most measure between 10 and 100 ji in diameter.
cells

(A ^i is a micron, which is 1/1,000 of a millimeter. It

takes 10 millimeters to make 0.3937 of an inch.) The
smallest cell thus far observed is a pleuropneumonialike
organism with a diameter of 0.10 micron; the largest ob-
served cell is an ostrich egg, which is the size of a small
grapefruit, measuring 4 or 5 inches across.
Cells have many different shapes; they may look like
balloons or air-filled rubber gloves, footballs or shoe-
boxes. Cells may be long and thin, like nerve cells, or
saucer shaped, like red blood cells. In some cells, the
shape is determined by function, such as the thin flat
cells of outer epidermis. With some cells, the shape may
be determined by its activity, such as the sausage-shaped
cells of a leaf stomata or the long stringing out of red

blood cells as they pass through various-sized capillaries.

Cells may carry on their life processes as independent
individuals or as a community.
Amoebas are examples of free-living single-celled ani-
mals capable of performing all the tasks necessary to

19

I
support their vital needs. They can move through water,
take in food and oxygen, release energy, give off waste
and make more amoebas.
Plankton are examples of free-moving one-celled or-
ganisms. Some are plants, some are animals; some have
characteristics of both animals and plants. Some scientists
have listed these simple part-animal, part-plant creatures
as protists, forming a third kingdom along with plants
and animals. Plankton drift through the ocean currents
in enormous numbers, deriving food from the sun by the
process of photosynthesis or by ingestion of food mate-
rial. These protozoans and protophytes provide nine-

tenths of the food consumed by other creatures of the

sea.
Some cells group together to form a community — as
the strands of algae, or the circular volvox, or communi-
ties of coral. Other cells become highly specialized and

operate as part of a complex interdependent cell com-

munity. In man and other complex organisms, both
plant and animal, cells associate to form tissues, and tis-
sues associate to form organs. The human body contains
an estimated 60,000 billion examples of cells.
Thus it is clear that there is simply no such thing as a
typical cell. Yet, with all the varied and complex cells,
certain structural and functional features are common to
all, as the next chapters will show.

20
 2
Cell Structure

The living material of most cells can be divided into

three major parts: the plasma membrane, which en-
closes the cell as a whole; the cytoplasm, which contains
various membranous structures and components essen-
tial to cellular survival; and the nucleus, which is re-

garded as the hub of cell processes, the site of genetic

activities.

The Plasma Membrane

The plasma membrane maintains, to some degree, the
size and shape of the cell and separates each cell from its
environment. It averages a mere 0.01 micron thick and
consists of two layers of fat situated between an inner
and outer layer of protein. The plasma membrane is sim-
ilar in chemical composition and structural organization

to internal membranes.
The function of the plasma or cell membrane is to
regulate the activity that flows between the interior of
the celland its external environment. That is, it carries
out the major functions of being a permeable and semi-
permeable screen, serving as a barrier against intrusions
from the external environment and permitting certain
materials to leave the cell and others to enter. It is capa-
ble of what is called active transport— the transportation
of some materials but not of others. In red blood cells,
for instance, the cell membrane distinguishes between

21
 Protein

^^T^

Protein
The plasma membrane consists of two layers of fat between an inner
and outer layer of protein.

potassium ions and sodium ions, which are similar in size

and electric charge. The membrane actively helps the
potassium ions enter the and opposes the sodium
cell
ions with more than a permeability mechanism.
Sometimes the penetration of materials from the en-
vironment is aided by microvilli, which are fingerlike pro-
jections, each covered with a cell membrane. These little
fingers increase the surface area, thus increasing the cell's
ability to absorb substances through the membrane.
Certain cells — the one-celled amoeba, for instance
exhibit additional, more indirect processes for taking in
substances from the external environment. These pro-
cesses are called pinocytosis (from the Greek pinein to —
drink) and phagocytosis (from the Greek phago I eat). —
In pinocytosis, portions of the flexible plasma membrane
retract, forming deep pockets into which fluids from the
outside environment are drawn. In phagocytosis, por-
tions of the flexible membrane extend, forming bulging
"arms" or extensions that enfold solid materials outside
the cell.

In both processes, the edges of the extensions of the

22
membrane reach around the outside material, come to-
gether, and totally enclose the trapped fluid or solid.

In both pinocytosis and phagocytosis, the trapped ex-

ternal material is surrounded by a portion of the cell

membrane and is then transported into the interior of

the cell. In both processes, the ingested substance is, in
effect, still outside the cell until it passes through the
enveloping membrane into the cytoplasm.
Although the plasma membrane is considered the
outer boundary of the cell, plant and animal cells often

possess structures that extend beyond the membrane.

For instance, a cell wall, one or more layers thick, is
often secreted outside the plasma membrane. But this
secretion is a nonliving chemical, such as the chitin of a
crustacean or the cellulose of a plant. Virtually all cells

of all members of the plant kingdom are encased in non-

living walls.
Hairlike fringes called cilia (from the Latin cilium —
eyelid) and whiplike appendages called flagella (from
the Latin flagella —
whip) also extend beyond the plasma
membrane. These agitating stalks facilitate locomotion
of the organism. The cytoplasm of cilia and flagella is
enclosed in an extension of the cell membrane, called a
basal body, originating deep within the cytoplasm of the
cell.

The dynamic and discriminative interaction between

the cell and its environment is crucial to the life of the
individual These ingesting and outpouring pro-
cell.

cesses are also crucial in multicellular organisms to the

functioning of the total organism, for cells can influence
each other only by direct contact between plasma mem-
branes or by releasing substances that pass through the
plasma membrane of one cell into that of another.

The Cytoplasm
The cytoplasm is the viscous fluid substance of proto-

23
Most of the substances present in cells are depicted in this diagram of a general-
ized cell: (A) Nuclear membrane; (B) Vacuole; (C) Nucleus; (D) Chromosome;

(E) Golgi body; (F) Plasma membrane; (G) Pores in nuclear membrane; (H) Cen-

triole; (I) Granules; (J) Plastid; (K) Mitochondrion; (L) Free ribosomes; (M) Nucleo-
lus; (N) Junction between reticulum and nuclear membrane; (O) Ribosomes on
surface of endoplasmic reticulum; (P) Endoplasmic reticulum; (Q) Lysosome; (R)

Cytoplasm, t
 .

plasm occupying the region between the plasma mem-

brane and the nucleus. Thousands of substances of vari-
ous sizes and shapes and of different compositions are
dissolved or suspended in the cytoplasm. Embedded in
this material are certain organized structures called
organelles that produce or use the substances and per-
form one or more specific functions.
Important activities occur in the cytoplasm, such as
( 1 ) converting food into forms that can be used to build
cell parts;(2) releasing chemical energy from food and
transferring it to areas where energy is needed in chemi-
cal reactions; and (3) synthesizing specific compounds,
such as proteins, to be used within the cell itself or to be
exported to other parts of the organism.
In plants, energy is captured, converted, and trans-
ferred by chloroplasts (from the Greek — chloros light
green —and plastos—form) and by mitochondria (from
the Greek mito — thread— and chondrion — granule)
Chloroplasts are oval or spherical sacs containing
green pigment. They are found only in green plants or
plantlike organisms. Chloroplasts contain a substance
called the stroma, in which are embedded stacks of disks
called gran a. Within the grana is found the green pig-

ment chorophyll that captures the energy of sunlight in a

process called photosynthesis. This captured energy con-
verts carbon dioxide and water into energy-rich carbo-
hydrates and starches, food of the plants. Chloroplasts
are found by the hundreds or even thousands in almost
all green plant cells.

Mitochondria vary in shape, but many are sausage-

shaped or filamentous structures surrounded by a double-
layered membrane. Folds of the inner membrane, called
cristae, project inwardly and subdivide the interior sub-
stance of mitochondria into a number of compartments.
Mitochondria have sometimes been called the power-

25
houses of the cells because these substances release the
majority of the energy obtained from food and make it

available to the energy-consuming processes of the cell.

Mitochondria are common members of a group called
plastids, which are the largest substances within the
cytoplasm of plant cells.
Granules called ribosomes, shaped somewhat like
balls, are sites of '^11 protein synthesis (Chapter 4).

There may be thousands in a single cell. Within these

ribosomes, various chemicals called amino acids, guided
by signals from the nucleus, are assembled in precisely
the right arrangements to form proteins, the major part
of the organic matter in living cells. Sometimes the
ribosomes move freely in the cytoplasm; sometimes they
are attached to the surface of the endoplasmic reticulum,
which is a complex network of interrelated channels
bounded by membranes. This endoplasmic reticulum,
abbreviated as ER and sometimes called a cytoskeleton,
is distributed throughout the cell, more or less between

the plasma membrane and the membrane that encircles

the nucleus. It may function as a transport system within
the Endoplasmic reticulum networks may be loosely
cell.

organized or tightly packed. The membranes that form

the interrelated channels may be smooth or rough. The
rough-surfaced membranes are dotted with ribosomes.
The endoplasmic reticulum appears to serve several
functions.For one thing, its membranes provide an
enormous increase in surface area where chemical reac-
tions can occur. Channels of the reticulum provide both
storage space for products synthesized by the cell and
transportation routes through which material can travel
to other parts of the cell. The network of membranes
segregates the substances of the cytoplasm, thereby pre-
venting them from interacting in a haphazard way.
Golgi bodies, named after an Italian anatomist of the

26
nineteenth century, are stacks of flattened, hollow cavi-
ties enclosed by membranes, which are often continuous
with the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum. The
function of the Golgi bodies has not been definitely de-
fined and is still hotly debated. Many scientists believe
that products synthesized by the cytoplasm (especially
protein) are transferred from the endoplasmic reticulum
to the cavities of the Golgi bodies and subsequently
secreted from the cell.
Lysosomes are single-membraned sausage-shaped
structures with no dividing membranes inside. Lyso-
somes contain digestive enzymes that break down large
molecules —
proteins, fats, and nucleic acids, for example
— into smaller constituents that can then be oxidized by
the mitochondria. Lysosomes appear to perform other
intracellular digestive processes, such as those connected
with phagocytosis and pinocytosis.
Other substances found in less abundance in the
cytoplasm include centrioles, cylinders that play an im-
portant role during cell division, and basal bodies,
which, as previously mentioned, extend deep into the
cytoplasm of the cell and connect ciha and flagella with
the cell body. In addition, there are vacuoles, islands of
watery material internally secreted by the cell and sur-
rounded by a membrane.
The structures described above are common materials
in the cytoplasm of most individual, independent cells.

When a cell becomes part of a complex community of

cells, however, it forms its own special granules, fila-

ments, and membranes designed to perform distinct

tasks for the benefit of the entire organism.

The Nucleus
The nucleus an organelle of the cytoplasm with an
is

exceptionally important function. Usually each cell con-

27
tains a single nucleus. In exceptional cases, however,
more than one nucleus may be present in a cell; in other
cases, a cell may have no nucleus at all.
Generally spherical in shape, the nucleus is enclosed
by a double-layered nuclear membrane. The outer layer
of membrane is pierced by many tiny pores and is a con-
tinuation of the /nembranes of the endoplasmic retic-
ulum.
Inside the nucleus are one or more spherical bodies
called nucleoli. These bodies are packed with granules
similar to the ribosomes of the cytoplasm and are rich in
proteins and the important nucleic acid, ribonucleic acid
(RNA).
Also present in the nucleus are filaments of chromatin,
made up principally of proteins, ribonucleic acid
(RNA), and, particularly, deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA). In the beginning stages of cell division, the
chromatin up to form chromosomes. It is the DNA
coils
within these chromosomes that contain all the cell's he-
reditary information. DNA, as described later, is respon-
sible for the proteins and their arrangement so that a
precise copy of the parent cell is passed on to future cells.
A cell that loses its nucleus may survive for a short
time, but it cannot reproduce more of its own kind. A
cell without a nucleus, as American biologist Carl P.
Swanson once wrote, is "a cell without a future."

The Functions of Structure

The complex structure of the living cell enables it to
manufacture many substances and to perform many or
all the necessary tasks of life.

The following chapters will attempt to demonstrate

the many activities of various cells, such as their ability to
harness and transform energy (Chapter 3) or to manu-
facture proteins, including the vital proteins called
enzymes (Chapter 4). Cells carry, duplicate, and pass on

28
all genetic information from generation to generation
through the reproductive qualities of DN A (Chapter 5).
Cells reproduce (Chapter 6) and become specialized to
perform certain activities (Chapter 7). They function
harmoniously, thanks to various control mechanisms
(Chapter 8), continue to develop, to age, and eventually
to die (Chapter 9).

29
 Energy for Survival

Cells transform energy to perform many jobs or activi-

ties of an organism, such as the mechanical work of mus-
cular contraction, the chemical work of protein synthesis,
the osmotic work of absorption and secretion, and the
electrical work of transferring nerve impulses. Without
energy, these vital tasks could not be performed. There
would be no life at all.

The Carbon Cycle

Energy is captured and transformed by two basic life
processes: photosynthesis and respiration. Together
these processes are known as the carbon cycle.
In photosynthesis, plants are able to absorb energy in
the form of light radiating from the sun and convert
water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen. Some
water is also formed.
In respiration, plants and animals use oxygen to break
down sugar and release the energy stored. Carbon diox-
ide and water, by-products of respiration, are returned to
the environment, where they may again be used.

Chemical Bonds and Energy

Both photosynthesis and respiration involve the mak-
ing and breaking of chemical bonds that bind molecules
to one another. What are chemical bonds, and what do
they have to do with energy?

31
 Elements are molecules composed of atoms that are
similar. For instance, the element oxygen is a molecule
with two atoms of oxygen. A carbon molecule contains
four atoms of carbon. When different kinds of atoms are
joined together, they form molecules called chemical
compounds. The chemical compound water, for in-
stance, is a molecule containing two kinds of atoms: two
atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen.
When atoms join together to make molecules, they do
so by forming bonds that link one atom to another. The
number and types of atoms and the position in which
they are bonded determine the properties of a chemical
compound. When molecules are formed, energy is

needed to create the bonds joining the atoms. When

bonds are severed, molecules are broken, and energy is
released.
Energy released and put to work is called kinetic en-
ergy.Energy stored in chemical bonds, ready to work
when needed, is called potential energy. In living cells,
energy is constantly changed back and forth from poten-
tial to kinetic.

Energy and Food

Food provides and other organisms
plants, animals,
with energy-packed compounds needed for survival.
Animals obtain their food in the form of carbohydrates
(starches and sugars), fats, and proteins from plants or
from other animals that feed on plants. Green plants
have the ability to manufacture their own food a sim- —
ple sugar called glucose —
from which they build other
food molecules. Nongreen plants such as fungi obtain
their food from decaying organisms. Minute organisms
such as protozoas and protophytes may obtain their en-
ergy or food from various chemicals of the nutritious
seas.
The presence or absence of this self-sustaining capacity
divides all living cells into two basic groups the depend-
:

32
ent, or heterotrophic, cells — the cells of the higher ani-
mals, including man; and the self-reliant, or autotrophic,
cells — chiefly the cells of green plants.
In a broad generalization, can be said that animals
it

cannot live without some form of green plants, and

plants cannot live without energy from sunlight or some
sort of derivation of energy from sunlight. Thus all cells
ultimately derive their energy from the sun.

Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis occurs when sunlight bombards the
cells of green plants. The light rays pass through the
cells' plasma membranes into the chloroplasts located in
the cytoplasm and are then absorbed by the green-col-
ored chlorophyll molecules of the chloroplasts.
The atoms of each complex chlorophyll molecule are
made up, in part, of low-energy electrons. When parti-
cles of the sunlight's energy called photons are absorbed
by the chlorophyll molecules, the energy level of the low-
energy electrons is raised. Subsequently, these energy-
rich or energized or "excited" electrons are led away
from the chlorophyll molecules by so-called electron-car-
rier They take a circular path outside the
molecules.
molecule, moving swiftly from one acceptor or electron-
carrier molecule to the next. As the energized electrons
travel along this circuit, they give up their energy. This
energy goes into the formation of a compound called
adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Adenosine triphosphate
is made up of adenosine and three phosphate groups.

ATP is formed when one unattached phosphate group in

the cell is bonded to adenosine diphosphate (ADP),
which is adenosine and two phosphate groups. The en-
ergy from sunlight, which excited the electrons, is now
tiedup in the ATP bonds.
Having given up their energy, the electrons return to
the chlorophyll molecule, which is now ready to absorb
more photons or particles of sunlight energy.

33
 Sunlight
strikes the
leaf.

-Chloroplasts

Electrons in the leaf's chlorophyll are

"excited" by this energy and become
high-energy electrons.

The energy, packed into the "excited"

electrons, bonds an unattached
phosphate molecule to a molecule of
ADP (adenosine diphosphate)
Adenosine molecule

'

. And the energy from sunlight is

. .

stored in this bond as potential

energy.

ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is formed when energy from sunlight

is used to bond an unattached phosphate molecule to a molecule of

ADP (adenosine diphosphate).

34
 —

In addition to providing the energy needed to form

ATP, the excited electrons of this first phase of photo-
synthesis perform another important function: They
provide the energy needed to spUt molecules of water
within the plant into oxygen and hydrogen. The oxygen
is released or transpired into the atmosphere as a gas.

The hydrogen atoms combine with another molecule,

nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, NADP,
to form the molecule NADPH2, which has two protons
obtained from the breakdown of water.
In the second phase of photosynthesis, the plant cell
uses the hydrogen atoms and the ATP, plus carbon diox-
ide taken in from the atmosphere, to form food
starches, sugars, and proteins. The reactions that now
occur are called dark reactions, for they can proceed
without the presence of light.

In these reactions, carbon dioxide from the atmos-

phere and hydrogen taken from the NADPH. combine
to form the important food compound, the sugar glucose.
The energy needed for the reactions to occur is supplied
by ATP. When the third phosphate group splitsfrom
ATP, the result is ADP, one loose phosphate group, and
the release of energy.
Glucose is not the only product of photosynthesis.
Many other compounds are synthesized in the process,
such as dextrose, sucrose, and starch.
With the process of photosynthesis, the raw materials
carbon dioxide and water yield — after twenty to thirty
reactions — compound glucose, as
the important sugar
well as oxygen and newly formed water. Some of these
compounds are given off in respiration.
The chemical reaction of photosynthesis can be de-
scribed by the following equation:

carbon water sugar oxygen water

dioxide (glucose)
6CO. + 12H.O > CnHa^Oe + 60, + 6H,0
+ energy (from sunlight)

35
 This equation represents the sum total of many reac-
tions, several ofwhich are not yet known.
What do know is this: The 6 carbon atoms
scientists
from the carbon dioxide molecules end up in the forma-
tion of glucose. The hydrogen in the 12 molecules of
water goes into forming both glucose and 6 new mole-
cules of water. The, oxygen in the 12 molecules of water
forms glucose, oxygen, and water.
Some of the oxygen is used by the plant in respiration,
a process which is the reverse of photosynthesis; the rest
is given off into the atmosphere. There it may be inhaled

by men and animals. The new water is utilized by the

plant. As for the glucose, it is now a storehouse of poten-
tial energy, waiting to be unlocked and used.

Respiration
In photosynthesis, the chlorophyll molecules of green
plants absorb the energy of sunlight and, after a number
of steps, pack bonds of glucose molecules. By the
it in the
mechanism of respiration (not to be confused with res-

Glucose 3 Carbon
Molecule 4 Hydrogen
(CeHiA) 3 Oxygen
Molecule
In glycolysis, the glucose molecule is broken down to two separate
molecules, four unattached hydrogen atoms, and energy.

36
piration of human or animal breathing), plants break
down glucose molecules, release their chemical energy,
and repack it.

The part of the respiration process that involves oxy-

gen occurs in the mitochondria. This is known as the
aerobic phase of respiration. This activity is preceded,
however, by an anaerobic phase called glycolysis, which
occurs in the cytoplasm outside the mitochondria. Gly-
colysis is a complex series of chemical reactions —
involv-
ing at least eleven separate steps — that result in the
splitting of the glucose molecule(CoHi^Oe) twointo
separate molecules, each with 3 carbon atoms, 4 hydrogen
atoms, and 3 oxygen atoms. Four unattached hydrogen
atoms also result from the breakdown of glucose.
During these reactions, several bonds are broken. As
bonds are broken, energy is released. A small amount of
ATP also results from the reactions.
In the second phase of respiration, the 3-carbon mole-
cules enter the mitochondria and embark on a series of
chemical reactions called the Krebs cycle, named after

3 Carbon 4 Hydrogen Energy

4 Hydrogen Atoms
3 Oxygen
Molecule

37
Nobel Prize winner German biologist Sir Hans Adolf
Krebs and summarized here in simplified form.
The Krebs cycle involves slowly burning or oxidizing
(removing hydrogen atoms from) a succession of organic
acids and compounds that can be converted into these
acids. Later we will see the hydrogen atoms combine
with oxygen gas to form water.
Early in the cycle", "the 3-carbon molecules are con-
verted to 2-carbon molecules (a form of vinegar). The
third carbon atom, which is separated, goes off as carbon
dioxide, CO..
Next in the merry-go-round of the Krebs cycle, the 2-
carbon molecule joins a 4-carbon molecule to form the 6-
carbon citric acid (found in many items, but in large
amounts in oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits).
Then the acid molecules are rearranged and
citric

broken down into the 4-carbon molecule. Each step is

catalyzed by a specific enzyme (Chapter 4)
All along the way, hydrogen atoms and carbon dioxide
molecules are formed. All along the way, chemical bonds
are broken and energy is released. The Krebs cycle re-
forms the 4-carbon molecule, which can then join with
another 2-carbon molecule and begin the cycle of reac-
tions over again.
The sugar glucose is not the only food substance pro-
cessed this way. Fats and proteins also are broken down
by enzymes, after which they also may enter the Krebs
cycle.
To complete the respiration story, the carbon dioxide,
hydrogen atoms, and energy yielded by the Krebs cycle
must be described. Here is what happens: Carbon diox-
ide is given off into the atmosphere. In the human body
this gas is breathed out through the lungs. The hydrogen
atoms, another by-product of the Krebs cycle, are split
into protons and electrons. The electrons are charged
with energy derived from the bond-splitting of the Krebs
cycle, just as electrons in chloroplasts are charged by the

38
energy of sunlight. And, as in photosynthesis, the elec-
trons pass from one acceptor molecule to another. Fi-
nally, the electrons and loose protons combine with oxy-
gen to form water.
Before reaching the end of the acceptor molecule cir-
cuit, the electrons relinquish their energy bit by bit.
Some of it is used to link ADP and one phosphate group
to form our old friend, the energy-packed compound
ATP. The formation of ATP is the least understood of
the various steps in the respiration process. It is also the
most important, for it is there that energy is put into a
form where it can be used to do things in the cell.
The intricate reactions of the mechanism of respira-
tion can be summarized by the following equation,
which also includes a description of the formation of
ATP:

sugar oxygen water carbon water

dioxide
C;Hi,0.; + 60. + 38ADP + 38P + 6H,0 —> 6CO. + 38ATP + 12H,0

As we can see, 38 molecules of ATP are produced from

every glucose molecule involved in respiration.

The Meaning of ATP

The compound adenosine triphosphate, ATP, as we
have seen, is produced in both photosynthesis and res-
piration. It is the main carrier of energy within all living
cells. No cell can do its work until the energy needed for

that work is extracted from ATP.

Why is it necessary to transform glucose into ATP,
when glucose itself is an energy-rich compound? The an-
swer is that glucose molecules contain too much energy
for practical and efficient use by the body. ATP holds
energy in small packets, readily available for all the
needs of the cell. As one writer puts it, each glucose mol-
ecule represents a hundred dollars' worth of energy, far

39
too much when the cell wants to expend only ten cents'
worth. ATP, he says, is the "small change" of energy.
Then why is it that plants, having first made ATP in
photosynthesis, should go on to produce glucose? The
answer is that ATP is not very useful by itself. It cannot,
for instance, make ATP
can provide only the energy
fat.

for other molecules to make fat. So plants need not only

—
ATP but other molecules built from the carbon atoms
in glucose —
which can then be energized by ATP to
drive the various life tasks of the cell.

The Efficiency of Energy Conversion

When energy is bond to another
transferred from one
or changed from one form to another, some of the energy
is lost. But nature, it seems, is far more efficient than man

at converting energy.
Man-made machines rarely turn more than a third of
the energy contained in fuel into usable mechanical or
electrical energy. In respiration, by contrast, a single
mitochondrion can make use of half the energy in its
food. In both cases, the energy that cannot be used is

released as heat.
Scientists continue to investigate the processes and
structures involved in energy conversion. Their findings
will certainlyenhance our knowledge of photosynthesis
and respiration and will also increase our admiration for
the superb efficiency of the living cell.

40
 —

Proteins, Enzymes, and RNA

A living cell is always breaking down substances, in-

cluding the material of which the cell is made, and build-
ing up new substances, including new cell material. The
breaking-down process is termed catabolism. The build-
ing-up process is termed anabolism. The sum of the pro-
cesses, which operate side by side, is termed metabolism.
To produce new substances, a cell must receive a
steady supply of raw materials from the outside world
food for animals, photosynthetic materials for plants.
After these materials enter an organism, they are
changed by chemical and physical means into small solu-
ble molecules that can then pass through the plasma
membrane. Once inside the cell, they become the build-
ing blocks from which —
with the help of energy are —
manufactured new molecules, molecules necessary to the
life of that particular organism.
The most abundant organic molecules of cells are car-
bohydrates, proteins, and fats —
which serve pri-
all of
marily as energy sources and places where energy can be
stored. Significant quantities of nucleic acids also are
present in the cell, as well as the essential inorganic com-
pound, water. It is water that constitutes the major por-
tion of the cell.

Proteins
All cellular constituents are vital components of living

41
systems, but proteins, it is often said, are most particu-
larly the essence of life. As much
90 percent of a cell's
as
metabolic energy is involved in the making of proteins.
Proteins (from the Greek proteno —
I occupy first

place) are not a single kind of substance but a vast array

of chemical compounds that serve as the basic life matter
of the cell. In the huqian body, where half the dry matter
is composed of proteins, they are found everywhere — in
blood, muscles, bones, hair, and skin. As examples, pro-
teins include the collagen that strengthens the skeleton,
some hormones that regulate metabolism, antibodies that
defend cells, the oxygen-carrying molecule hemoglobin,
the major structural molecules of all cells, including the
plasma membranes, and all enzymes. Even viruses with
primary nucleic acid contain protein.

Enzymes
Enzymes are important proteins, present in every liv-

ing cell. They are organic catalysts capable of speeding

chemical reactions without themselves being changed in
the process.
In a test tube, the making, breaking, and rearranging
of chemical compounds can be hastened by adding a
chemical catalyst, such as hydrochloric acid. In the living
cell, enzymes act like catalysts and speed living reactions.
Enzymes are associated with several cellular organ-
elles: mitochondria, plastids, the nucleus, and the
endoplasmic reticulum. Photosynthesis, respiration, the
making of proteins, and hundreds of other cellular reac-
tions are complex processes involving enzymes.
Although enzymes do not produce reactions that
would not otherwise occur, their presence favors certain
reactions over others, regulates the order in which these
reactions proceed, and hastens reactions to the extent
that a cell may perform in sixty seconds what might
otherwise take thousands upon thousands of years. And
only small amounts of enzymes are needed to cause very

42
substantial changes. One molecule of catalase, for in-

stance, in one minute at 32° F (the freezing point of

water) can catalyze the reaction of 5,000,000 molecules.
There seem to be almost as many enzymes (hundreds,
perhaps thousands) in a cell as there are reactions, be-
cause most enzymes are specific for one reaction. In other
words, if molecule A combines with molecule B to form
molecule C, there is, in most cases, a particular enzyme
whose sole role is to facilitate that union.
How does it do so? An enzyme's surface, intricately
folded and contoured, contains grooves (the enzyme's ac-

Molecule B

Compound C

There isa "lock-and-key" fit between the shapes of special molecules

A and B and the grooves of an enzyme to form a compound C.

43
tive site) of various sizes and shapes. Each groove
matches the specifications of a particular kind of mole-
cule and no other.
The substances on which enzymes act are known as
substrates. A "lock-and-key" fit occurs between the sub-
strates' and the grooves of the enzyme. Thus only mole-

cules A and B can .become attached to the enzyme's sur-

face, for no other mokcules will fit. Once A and B form
compound C, the new compound leaves the enzyme,
which is then free to foster the combining of other A's
and B's.
More than one thousand enzymes are now known,
each capable of catalyzing a specific reaction.
Some enzymes function in the presence of coenzymes;
indeed, in certain reactions, unless the coenzyme is at-

tached to the enzyme —

and in the correct position the —
enzyme will not function as a catalyst. Often several
enzymes share a particular coenzyme.
Among the types of molecules that serve as coenzymes
are certain metals (for example, iron, manganese, cop-
per, zinc, molybdenum, magnesium) and certain vita-
mins (for example, thiamin, riboflavin, nicotinic acid,
pyridoxine).
Scientists can now understand why a lack of vitamins
may result in diet-deficiency diseases. In the absence of a
vitamin coenzyme, an enzyme is crippled, and the cell's

chemistry goes out of whack.

Amino Acids
Enzymes and other proteins are some of the larger,
more complex, and more numerous molecules in the
cell. All proteins consist of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
sulfur, and nitrogen; some also contain phosphorus or
other elements. There may be more than a million atoms
in a single giant protein molecule.
When protein molecules are broken down, however,
scientists have found that all composed of a small
are
group of substances called amino acids, which essentially

44
 H

are organic acids containing the amino group (symbol-

ized as —
NR.). Twenty kinds of amino acids make up
the majority of proteins. These amino acids can be
linked in any order to form chains called polymers.
These chains may belong to one of two general protein
groups: fibrous proteins, which are composed of indi-
vidual, elongated, filamentlike chains joined side by side
by cross linkages; and globular proteins, which are com-
posed of long chains intricately folded and coiled in an
ellipsoidal shape.
Insulin, for example, is a fibrous protein. It is com-
posed of two chains lying side by side, with 21 acids in
one chain, 30 in the other, and two bridges joining the
chains. Its structure has recently been completely de-
scribed.
If proteins are visualized as words made up of the
twenty or more letters of the amino-acid units, with no
restrictions on order or length, it appears that the variety
of protein structures can be almost infinite. And despite
the evidence that certain limitations do in fact exist,
hundreds of thousands of different proteins are known to
be made from amino acids. In the human body alone,
according to Nobel Prize winner American chemist Dr.
Linus Pauling, more than 100,000 different kinds of pro-
teins can be found.
Whatever the length or sequence of an amino-acid
chain, theHnk between amino-acid units is always the
same. The link is formed when the carboxyl end (the
COOH, or

O
—C—OH II

or carboxyl group) of one unit joins the amino end (the

NH„ or

H
—N— I

45
 Amino Acid Chain

Carboxyl Amino
group group

[HOH] (HOh\
Peptide
bond
Water molecules

When the carboxyl group (COOH) of one amino acid unit joins the
amino group (NH2) of its adjacent unit, the result is a squeezed-out
molecule of water (HOH) and a CONH linkage (the peptide bond).

46
 N

or amino group) of its adjacent unit. The result is a

squeezed-out molecule of water, H:.0 (made from the OH
of the COOH and an H of the NH„), and a CONH
linkage

O H
—C—II I

between amino acids. The linkage is known as a peptide

bond. Thus a chain of two amino acids is called a dipep-
tide; a chain of three is called a tripeptide; and a long
cham amino acids is called a polypeptide.
of
All amino acids have the same "heads" and "tails"
(except two, which have an NH group instead of an
NH:> group in the amino position). Aside from these
exceptions, the only features that distinguish one amino
acid from another are chemical groups called side chains.
Plants make the proteins they need directly from
amino acids. Animals can synthesize many amino acids
and acquire proteins from plants (or plant-eating ani-
mals). They can break the ingested proteins down into
component amino acids and then rearrange these acids
into new and different protein compounds. The proteins
in vegetables or cows, for instance, are useless to pigs or
man in their form as is. Each organism must produce
proteins specifically designed for its particular needs.
Proteins are broken down in the course of digestion,
aided by enzymes that help split the proteins into smaller
and smaller portions. The breaking-down process,
known as hydrolysis, is chemically just the reverse of the
building up of protein chains: Water is added at each
link, the Hnk spHts, and the amino acids separate from
each other. (In the cell, one kind of enzyme does the
building, another does the breaking.) The cell can then
reassemble these amino acids to make the proteins it
needs.
The cell can synthesize specific proteins and no other

47
 TjTiTrm?iiITTT?^
J A— Adenine

( \
] C— Cytosine

Phosphate/i

U-Uracil

U— Uracil

Ribose /

WML \
G—Guanine

A— Adenine

U— Uracil

ry
The complex RNA is visualized here schematically as a bar composed
of alternating molecules of ribose and phosphate, with a base
attached to each ribose unit.

48
 .

because protein synthesis is a very precise business in-

deed. The quantity and types of amino acids in a poly-

peptide, and the order in which they appear, are deter-
mined in every detail by ribonucleic acid (RNA)

RNA — Ribonucleic Acid

RNA directs the fantastic operation of linking pre-
cisely the right amino acids in the right order to make
the right proteins. In the synthesis of a given protein
molecule containing hundreds of amino acids, en- RNA
sures that the same sequence will occur every time that
kind of molecule is produced. Scientists have learned
enough about RNA molecules to devise models of their
structure and to describe in considerable detail their
mode of operation. One type, called transfer RNA, has
been crystallized, and its three-dimensional structure is

being investigated.
RNA appears in various shapes, somewhat like a
strand, comprised of —
two kinds of basic units a mole-
cule of ribose (a type of sugar) and a molecule of phos-
phate — linked one to the other in alternating units. At-
tached to each ribose unit is known as a base
a molecule
(a nitrogen-containing base). The base may be adenine
(A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), or uracil (U). The
order in which these four bases are arranged along the
ribose units of the ribose-phosphate strand spells out a
code that specifies the type and location of the amino
acids in a protein chain.
How do four bases spell out codes for some twenty
amino acids? Recent evidence indicates that a group (or
groups) of three bases is usually the code for a single
amino acid. Such coding triplets are called codons. AUU,
for instance, might stand for the amino acid tyrosine.
UUG might stand for the amino acid valine. Thus a por-
tion of RNA with the bases UUGAUU could be a coded
message that valine and tyrosine are to be linked at that
point.
The type of RNA described above is called template,

49
or messenger, RNA, and can be written mRNA. It origi-

nates in the nucleus, and, carrying genetic information,

moves to the cytoplasm, where it becomes firmly attached
to the ribosomes.
Another type of RNA called transfer RNA, or tRNA,
is present in the cytoplasm. Transfer RNA is a smaller
molecule than messenger RNA. The job of transfer
RNA is amino acids present in the
to carry the various
cytoplasm to their specific site on the RNA template in
the ribosomes. How is this done?
Each transfer RNA will pick up and transport only
one particular amino acid and no other that is, one —
transfer RNA will pick up only valine, another will pick
up only alanine, etc. Recent research indicates that there
are approximately fifty to seventy transfer RNA's, or ap-
proximately two or three for each of the twenty amino
acids. In some cases, as for the amino acid leucine, for
example, there are five or six transfer RNA's. The reason
for the "extra" tRNA's is the subject of a great deal of
current research.
Another characteristic of transfer RNA is that it will
fit into a specific place on the messenger RNA strand in
the ribosomes. This is because each transfer RNA inter-
acts one particular triplet base sequence
only with
(codon) of the messenger RNA and no other. In other
words, it is the transfer RNA which responds to the cod-
ing triplets, carrying the correct amino acid in response
to a given code.

Protein Synthesis
In the synthesis of proteins, each transfer RNA picks
up its specific amino acid located in the cytoplasm and
carries it to the ribosomes, where amino acids are assem-
bled into protein chains according to the coded instruc-
tions of messenger RNA.
The process begins when the twenty or so amino acids
are activated by ATP in the presence of enzymes, each of
which is specific for a particular amino acid. Once acti-

i 50
 o

Messenger RNA
,,----^-.~...^^..-^.^-.^
fA"^ c T~c~W^"~^u :uFaTc (cgu 7

: u i g m c i c (

^_—» Valine . V Tyrosine

lyrosi
Histidine

'ill: kf Hill!

mS^^ :? Mim

4 mi
''"'•^'^^ffA/4

U
t^ Hlstidine

Messenger RNA

A \ U 1 U P A i C i

C u '
u ^
c C . G G
7
n n rr
nH 1 r^

i
r

tri3"
Histidine
A
£
Valine
^

Alanine

Tyrosine

In protein synthesis, each transfer RNA picks up its appropriate

amino acid and carries it where the amino acids
to the ribosomes,
are assembled into protein chains according to the coded instructions
of messenger RNA.

51
vated, the amino acid is capable of being attached to its

particular transfer RNA. The high-energy bonds of

ATP cause the chemical Hnkage of the amino acid with
its transfer RNA. The amino acid is then carried by the

transfer RNA to the ribosome, where the amino acid is

fixed in position as a result of a bonding between the
transfer RNA and messenger RNA. Once fixed in posi-
tion, a peptide *
—
bond is formed in the presence of
an enzyme — between the new amino acid and the car-
boxyl end of its neighbor. The transfer RNA is then free
to leave the ribosome and pick up another specific amino
acid.
This process is repeated: Other amino acids are cap-
tured and placed sequentially on the chain. Finally, the
completed protein separates from the RNA ribosome
complex and performs its job in the cell.
New proteins are continuously produced, in accord-
ance with the RNA code found in every cell. The addi-
tion of new amino acids to the growing chain may pro-
ceed at the swift rate of two amino acids per second.
All cells actively synthesizing proteins are rich in
RNA. When RNA is destroyed, protein synthesis comes
to a halt.

The Master Planner —DNA

It has been shown that RNA, with its coded instruc-
tions, directs the synthesis of all proteins, including
enzymes. Enzymes, in turn, control the making of carbo-
hydrates and fats. (In the cyclical state of nature,
enzymes also help build other enzymes and proteins, as
well as RNA itself.) In other words, a cell's chemistry is

determined by its enzymes, and the nature of its enzymes

is determined by RNA.
Behind this impressive activity is deoxyribonucleic
acid, DNA, keeper of the code of life, carrier of the mas-
ter plan of the cell. As the next chapter will show, DNA
bears the ultimate responsibility, directly and indirectly,
for the making of all the cell's proteins.

\. 52
 —

Blueprint for Heredity— DNA

The process by which mental and physical qualities

are passed on from parent to offspring is termed hered-
ity. The blueprint for heredity, it is now known, is a
specific molecule found in the nucleus of the cell
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA ensures the con-
tinuity of characteristics from generation to generation.
It determines the shape of an eyebrow, the texture of

skin, the color of a leaf. It makes a man a man, a giraffe a

giraffe, a cabbage a cabbage, giving to men and giraffes
and cabbages both the general qualities that distinguish
each group from the others and the specific qualities that
make each individual within each group unique.

From Mendel to DNA

Even in the early days of civilization, people were
aware that each species produces its own kind: Dogs pro-
duce puppies and apple seeds produce apple trees. Nor
did it require scientists to point out that offspring usu-
ally resemble their parents —whether that offspring is a
blue-eyed boy or a black-eyed pea.
Despite the ancient and pervasive awareness that the
inheritance of parental characteristics occurs in both the
plant and animal kingdoms, scientific effort to examine
the mechanisms of heredity did not emerge until the
middle of the nineteenth century. It was then that an
Augustinian monk named Gregor Mendel performed his

53
brilliant experiments with peas, experiments that subse-
quently became the cornerstone of modern genetics.
What Mendel did was deceptively simple. He grew
twenty-two different varieties of garden peas, some with
tall stems and some with short; some with yellow seeds

and some with green; some with wrinkled seeds and

some with smooth. Then he began to cross-fertilize them,
taking the pollen of one and mating it with the egg of
another. In one series of experiments, he crossed yellow-
seeded pea plants with green-seeded pea plants. He
found that the first generation was composed exclusively
of yellow-seeded plants. Then he crossed members of this
new generation and discovered that their progeny pro-
duced yellow-seeded plants and green-seeded plants in a
consistent ratio of 3 yellow to 1 green.
From his experiments, Mendel drew several conclu-
sions:
First, certain characteristics are inherited as complete
units. In pea plants, for instance, there are yellow seed
units and green seed units; smooth-seed units and wrin-
kled-seed units; tall-stem units and short-stem units.
Second, both kinds of plants contribute an equal
number of units to the inheritance of every character-
istic, even when the characteristics they contribute are
not visible in a given offspring or in an entire generation.
Third, certain characteristics are dominant over oth-
ers. A plant with yellow and green seed units, for in-
would display the color yellow seed, for yellow is
stance,
dominant over green. The color which is not expressed
— in this case, green —
termed recessive.
is

Fourth, units of inheritance do not intermingle that —

is, if a plant inherits a yellow seed unit from one parent

and a green seed unit from another, the dominant color

— yellow —
will prevail. Such units never blend to form
an intermediate combination like yellow-green coloring,
or medium height, or semismooth peas.
Fifth, the processes of heredity follow mathematical

' 54
laws — that is, when certain kinds of parents are crossed,
one can predict the number of offspring that will exhibit
each type of inherited characteristic (seed color, for in-
stance).
Mendel's conclusions related to his pea experiments in
the following way:
In the purebred yellow pea, both color units were
dominant (YY). In the purebred green pea, both color
units were recessive (yy). When both purebreds were
crossed the first time, all offspring contained a yellow
unit from one parent and a green unit from the other
(Yy). Since yellow is dominant, all offspring displayed a
yellow color, and the green units in every offspring were
not expressed.
Next, two of the yellow-colored plants of the first gen-
eration containing a recessive green unit (Yy) were
crossed to produce a second generation of pea plants. As
a result of meiotic division (Chapter 6), only four com-
binations were possible, two of which had to be the same.
And so the results were one YY, a purebred yellow seed
plant;two Yy's, two yellow-looking pea seed plants with
and one yy, a purebred green seed
recessive green units;
plant produced by the combining of the two recessive
units.
The value of Mendel's revolutionary findings was not
recognized in his lifetime. But at the turn of the century,
scientists rediscovered the great work of the talented
monk and realized that what Mendel had estabhshed for
peas applied to —
many living things from fruits to flies to
man.
Meanwhile, related studies located the hereditary ma-
then focused on the
terial of living cells in the nucleus,
threadlike chromosomes inside the nucleus. Most species,
it was found, seem to have their own special number of

—
chromosomes 46 in man, 14 in pea plants, and oddly
enough, 1 ,500 in one-celled creatures called rhizopods.
But how could a mere 46 chromosomes carry all the

55
 K l^
>->jS^

Yellow
W^ ^ % Green
w

^''. rm er7 ,

^-^-^^^^-^
^A-^ i..|f^ ^^^^^

It^
^cf f/ w' »irst*Gener'atiot»

Mendel's pea experiments. This diagram indicates what happens

genetically when yellow pea plants are crossed with green pea
plants.

56
 hereditary information needed to describe how to make
a human body? In examining the question, scientists ar-
rived at the oversimpHfied view that chromosomes re-

\] sembled a necklace strung with beads, perhaps as many

as 3,000 on each human chromosome. The beads were
given the name genes, and genes were estabUshed as dis-
crete units of genetic information. In terms of Mendel's
peas, then, each plant inherited two color genes one —
from each parent —and the dominant gene determined
the color.
It should be pointed out that Mendel was fortunate in
his pea plant experiments, for the characteristics he hap-
pened to study were determined by only one pair of
genes. It is far more common, particularly in complex
organisms, for a combination of several genes working
together to produce a given characteristic.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the mecha-
nism of heredity was tracked first to the nucleus, then to
the chromosomes, and then to the genes. It was also es-
tablished that both chromosomes and genes are usually
arranged in pairs (one from each parent), that the ar-
rangement of genes on the chromosomes is fixed for each
species, and that partner genes are positioned at identical
locations on partner chromosomes. In addition, there
appeared to be a 1-to-l ratio between genes and enzymes
— that is, each gene seemed to contain a pattern that
guided the formation of a particular enzyme.
Next to be explored was the chemical nature of the
genetic material. It was known that proteins and the
nucleic acid DNA are prominent constituents in chrom-
osomes, and it was assumed by most investigators that
proteins are the significant substance in genes. But ex-
periments conducted in the 1940's disproved this.
In work with pneumococci, for instance, DNA from
one strain. A, of bacteria was transferred to the cells of
another strain, B. As a result, hereditary traits were
transmitted from strain A to strain B. Such experiments

57
 established DNA as the molecule of heredity, the mole-
cule that contains all the genetic information required
for an exact reproduction of each type of cell through
thousands of generations.
Genes and DNA molecules are not identical, for one
DNA molecule seems to be the site of many genes. And
so today, instead of the concept of a chromosome neck-
lace strung with gene beads, it is probably more accurate
to visualize the chromosome as a mass of one or more
-^- DNA molecules arranged in a long line, with the unit of
inheritance we call a gene represented by only a portion
of the entire DNA molecule.
The Structure of DNA
In 1953 the American scientist James Watson and Brit-
ish scientists Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick devised
a model which is now accepted as a reasonable represen-
tation of the DNA molecule, an achievement which won
them the Nobel Prize. This model was dramatically veri-
fiedby a photograph taken in 1969 by a young graduate
student at the California Institute of Technology, Jack
Griffith. This photograph, painstakingly taken by spray-
ing DNA samples from pea plants with a thin coating of
tungsten atoms and then using the electron microscope,
magnified a section of a DNA molecule 7,300,000 times
and brought definite visual evidence of the double
helix structure. In some respects, DNA resembles RNA,
described in Chapter 4, but there are important differ-
ences.
DNA is composed of two parallel bars, or rails, or
strands (instead of RNA's single strand) intertwined in
a spiral shape called a double helix, looking somewhat
like a twisted ladder. Each strand or side of the ladder is

composed of two kinds of molecules —molecules of

deoxyribose sugar (instead of RNA's ribose sugar) and
molecules of phosphate — linked one to the other in al-

ternating units.
Scientists have found that these spiraling strands of

*
58
 Deoxyribose

DNA is visualized as two intertwined strands, each composed of

alternating molecules of deoxyribose and phosphate with a nitrog-
enous base attached to each deoxyribose unit. Pairs of joined bases
project crosswise, forming rungs between the two bars.

DNA are astonishingly long, each one containing mil-

lions of atoms. Every human cell contains about three
feet of these twisted strands, and the length of all the
strands coiled in the cells of a human body totals billions
of miles.
Attached to every sugar unit of the DNA strand is one
of four nitrogenous bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C),
guanine (G), or thymine (T). The bases are the same as
those in RNA except for thymine (T), which replaces
uracil (U).
The bases project crosswise from the strands into the
center, where they are joined in pairs by weak hydrogen

59
bonds. Thus each DNA connected to the other
strand is

by its bases. The complete molecular structure resembles

a long, thin spiral ladder with the sugar-phosphate units
forming the sides and the pairs of joined bases forming
rungs.
The pairing of bases occurs according to rules of spe-
cific complement nature; adenine combines only with
thymine, and cytosine combines only with guanine.
Thus if one DNA strand consists of bases arranged in the
order TAGGCACTGAC, the order of bases in the other
strand of the helix would have to be ATCCGTGACTG.
There may be thousands of paired bases in a tiny seg-
ment of DNA. The possible combinations of an indi-
vidual step can only be T-A or A-T, C-G or G-C, but in
the complete DNA molecule there is a virtually infinite
number of which the steps may be arranged.
ways in
(Just think of the ways in which you could combine, for
example, three T's, two G's, three A's, and two C's to
make one miniature strand of a DNA molecule.)
Clearly, the DNA molecule is capable of enough varia-
tion to be the carrier of a great diversity of genetic in-
formation, despite the fact that the chemical and physical
organization of DNA is the same in all organisms.
The particular order in which the paired bases are
lined up along the DNA strands gives each gene its indi-
vidual characteristics. For any individual of any species,
the position and number of the base combinations spell
out a long, elaborate message in code.
This genetic code, as discussed in Chapter 4, is made
up of bases arranged along the strand in triplet combina-
tions, each triplet representing a particular amino acid.
Thus the coded information specifies the amino-acid se-
quence required for the making of all the cell's protein
molecules.
A relationship appears to exist between the length of
DNA and the complexity of the organisms. There are,
however, interesting exceptions to the rule— the DNA of

, 60
a frog, for instance, is double the length of man's DNA.
The ratios of the four bases. A, C, G, and T, are different
in different organisms. But in every case the amount of A
always equals the amount of T, and the amount of G
always equals the amount of C.

The Replication of DNA

DNA is found in every cell of virtually all living or-

Deoxyribose

In the replication of DNA the double strand splits into two, and
along each strand a new complementary strand is formed.

61
ganisms. In any particular organism, the structure of the
DNA molecule is identical in each cell because DNA is

capable of making precise replicas of itself every time the

cell divides. How does it do so?
Multicellular organisms begin as a single cell that di-
vides into two, then into four, and continues dividing
(Chapter 6) untij, in human beings, trillions of cells are
produced.
Just before a cell divides, the weak hydrogen bonds
between the DNA bases break so that the two strands of
DNA are no longer held together. The DNA molecule
splits (or uncoils, or unzips) into two separate strands.

A's separate from T's and G's separate from C's. Then
along each strand a new complementary strand is
formed. This process is called replication.
The necessary raw materials for the making of new
strands are available in the fluid of the nucleus, as well as
energy sources (ATP) and the enzymes needed to cata-
lyze the proper chemical reactions. When the DNA
ladder splits, unattached nucleotides, which are base-
sugar-phosphate units, in the nuclear fluid converge on
the split strands.
Each nucleotide lines up in its proper place along each
DNA strand, the new bases matching up with the old in
accordance with the rules of complementarity A's link- —
ing with T's and T's with A's; G's linking with C's and
C's with G's. The old and new bases combine, and the
new segments of the sugar-phosphate rail lock into place.
From the two split halves of the original DNA, two new
and complete DNA's are produced —
each identical to
the original, each carrying precisely the same coded
message.

DNA Makes RNA

DNA the blueprint not only for itself. It also the
is is

blueprint from which RNA copied. is

While DNA never leaves the nucleus, the DNA associ-

62
ated with a specific gene can convey the information it

contains to a chemical messenger —messenger RNA.

Messenger RNA then travels to the cytoplasm, carrying
genetic instructions from the nuclear blueprint to ribo-
somes, where proteins are synthesized. Thus, through the
intermediary of messenger RNA, DNA communicates
with the rest of the cell and controls the cell's structure
and activity.
Recent research now shows that, although information
is transmitted from DNA to RNA most of the time,

sometimes an RNA template can code for DNA. This re-

verse transcription, as it is called, may explain how RNA
viruses, including those known to cause colds, flu, and
measles and to induce cancer, manage to produce DNA
that an image of itself.
is

Messenger RNA is similar to DNA. But as mentioned

earlier, RNA is single-stranded instead of double-
stranded, as is DNA, has ribose instead of deoxyribose as
its sugar, and contains uracil (U) instead of thymine
(T) as its fourth base.
Like the making of DNA, the making of RNA in-
volves the complementary pairing of bases and requires
the presence of preexisting DNA before synthesis can
begin. While both strands of DNA are usually present
during RNA synthesis, only one strand is actively used.
As a result, the new RNA has the same base sequence as
the unused DNA strand, except for the uracil (U) sub-
stitution. And so when A is the base in the actively used
DNA strand, U is the base in the messenger RNA. When
T is the base in the DNA, A is the RNA base. Therefore
a strand of, say, GCATTA would produce an RNA of
CGUAAU.
In an intermediate stage of transcribing information
from DNA to RNA, the single-strand messenger RNA
forms hydrogen bonds with the two DNA strands, pro-
ducing a triple-strand molecule called a DNA-RNA
hybrid. Then the messenger RNA peels away from the

63
DNA and passes from the nucleus to the cytoplasm,
where it controls the building of the cell's proteins.

Mutations and Evolution

A mutation is a change in an organism resulting from
a chemical change in the structure of a gene. Change will
first be reflected in the RNA copy, then in the enzyme or

other protein that tile RNA supervises, and finally in the

appearance of new traits in the living organism.

There are many things that a mutation is not. It is not

the sudden emergence of a recessive characteristic that
has been present but unexpressed for several genera-
tions. It is not the physical or mental defect in a new-
born child brought on by accident or disease of the
mother during pregnancy. To understand a third false
conception of mutation, we must go back to Mendel
again.
The ingenious monk originally established that the
inheritance of one genetic trait occurs independently of
the inheritance of others. It was subsequently discovered
that Mendel's law of independent assortment is valid
only when genesare located on different chromosomes,
since all the traits controlled by genes on the same
chromosome tend to be inherited together.
On occasion, however, it happens that some of the
genes on one chromosome exchange positions with genes
governing identical traits on the partner chromosome.
(Only chromosomes within one pair can trade genes, al-
though any number of genes, from one to almost all, can
be exchanged.) Subsequent generations, upon inheriting
these chromosomes, will possess the new combinations of
linked genes.
The exchange of genes is called crossing-over. The
reason many do not regard crossing-over as a
geneticists
process of mutation is that the genes do not chemically

change; the genetic code remains exactly the same.

Actually, a mutation is an alteration of one or more
base pairs of the DNA molecule, the garbling of the ex-

^
64
is ting genetic code. Sometimes the pattern of normal
base pairing is altered, causing the substitution of one
base pair for another. And sometimes the pairing capac-
ity of a specific base is changed, producing abnormal base
pairing.
In the long DNA molecule it takes only a single differ-
ent pair of bases to produce a different or imperfect or-
ganism. The job of the hemoglobin molecule, for ex-
ample, is oxygen through the bloodstream. In a
to carry
disease called sickle-cell anemia, the normal round-
shaped human blood cells are intermingled with some
having a sickle shape. This disease occurs when one out
of several hundred amino acids present in the hemo-
globin is misplaced because of an error in the messenger
RNA which was made by a piece of DNA with one of its
base pairs out of arrangement. It takes only one mis-
placed amino acid, and the result is a hereditary disease
that affects about 250,000 Americans and causes death to
most of its victims before they reach forty years of age.
Hemophilia is a condition in which the blood fails to
clot, so its victims sometimes bleed to death as a result of

a minor wound. This mutation is caused by an inborn

inability to manufacture some enzyme or enzymes essen-
tial to blood clotting. According to one figure, hemophilia

occurs once in every 30,000 births.

It was formerly believed that genes were so thoroughly

protected that they could not be modified by anything

external to the organism. But we now know that muta-
tions can be caused not only by internal disorders but by
external agents, agents that affect the genetic apparatus
both arbitrarily, in the course of natural events, and de-
liberately, in controlled laboratory experiments.
External causes of mutation include chemicals like
mustard gas; heat, which may weaken the already weak
hold of the hydrogen bonds that connect the bases in the
DNA stairway; and X-ray and other radiations, which
bombard the cell with particles moving at the speed of
light, capable of producing a structural change in DNA.

65
There is a great deal of concern today that some of man's
newest creations —nuclear tools —
and weapons are filling
the atmosphere with radioactive fallout destined to in-
crease the rate of mutations in unborn generations. Sci-
becoming increasingly concerned about other
entists are
modern agents that can cause damage to chromosomes
and create possible mutations. Much has yet to be
learned about the effects of certain food additives, of in-

secticides, and of powerful new drugs, especially LSD.

Internal, or so-called spontaneous, mutations may
occur because of an error in the replication of DNA. In
one instance, the DNA strands unzip but fail to stretch
out in an elongated position. If a DNA strand loops
around itself, the bases will be misplaced on the com-
plementary strand.
Mutations may result in no change in the organism or
produce minimal or drastic alterations. In some cases the
mutations may improve the chance for success for the
organism, but frequently mutations are lethal.

It is true that bacteria present in infections may de-

velop a resistance to penicillin. This resistance enables
the bacteria to survive and multiply in the presence of
what is ordinarily a bacteria killer. From the bacteria's
point of view, an advantageous mutation has occurred.
It is have obtained useful
also true that plant breeders
mutations in cereals, ornamental plants, and fruit trees.
But for every useful mutation, there may be at least a
thousand harmful or useless ones.
We have said that most mutations may be harmful.
Yet without them, it seems almost certain that none of us
would be here. Evolution is essentially dependent on the
occurrence of structural changes in genes — progressive
changes that create new variations in the pattern of liv-

ing.
In the billions of years during which life has been
evolving, mutations have been responsible for the devel-
opment of increasingly complex forms. The history of

66
life is based on the fact that no organism replicates itself

perfectly eon after eon after eon.

According to one estimate, the average individual
gene of the average Drosophila fruit fly (the subject of
intensive mutation studies) will undergo a mutation
about once over a period of one to ten thousand years. In
human genes, mutation is likely about once in a million
years. So we can say that a gene is, essentially, character-
ized by permanence. Nevertheless, genes do change, for
sooner or later mutations take place in all species.

When a nonlethal mutant is produced, the environ-

ment is the final arbiter of whether or not the mutant
will survive. In many cases, the mutant is doomed. But
sometimes, in a strictly hit-or-miss fashion, the new traits

are better suited to a changing environment than the old

traits of the species. Mutation will then mean survival in
the Darwinian sense — the survival of the fittest through
natural selection.
Once a mutant gene appears, it replicates with the
same fidelity as its predecessors. In asexually reproducing
species, only the mutations that occur in germ cells (the
reproductive cells) are transmitted to future genera-
tions. In species that reproduce sexually, mutations that
occur in ordinary body cells may become established in
future strains.
Evolution, then, relies on two qualities. Changes in
the gene must be permanent and advantageous. And
these changes must be relatively minor so that they can
be safely passed on to future generations.
Some species, it is true, remain basically unaltered
through long periods of geologic history. Without such
stability, a species would cease to exist in any recogniza-
ble form. But without mutation, evolution would not
occur at all, and life would still consist of one-celled

blobs drifting through the seas of a barren planet.

67
 The Reproduction of Life

Cells are made by cells. New life occurs whenever cells

divide or when they fuse in sexual reproduction. The
mechanism of cell making is similar or identical in all
plants and animals.

Mitosis
Virtually all cells reproduce by mitosis. Mitosis in-

volves the duplication and segregation of chromosomes,

followed by the simple splitting of a single cell into two
new entities. Before and after mitosis, a cell's DNA and
chromosomes are genetically the same, and so daughter
cells are identical to each other and to the mother cell.

Mitosis is responsible for the reproduction of single-

celled organisms such as the amoeba. Mitosis is also re-
sponsible for growth in multicellular organisms. A
human embryo, for instance, develops from one ferti-
lized egg to about 26 trillion cells between fertihzation
and the time a baby leaves his mother's womb. Outside
the womb, cell division continues throughout life. In a
human being, cells die every day, and others wear out
over longer periods of time. Without mitosis, there
would be no cell replacement.
It is interesting to note that many lower animal species

are capable of rebuilding lost parts — a process called

regeneration. The planarian flatworm, for instance, can
replace a lost fragment of its body, and a starfish can

69
restore a lost point. Salamanders can regenerate new tails

or legs. Other animals can restore certain structures that

are discarded in the normal course of their lives —snakes
shed and grow skins, birds molt and grow feathers, deer
shed and grow new antlers. Mitosis is the basis of this
activity.
Unicellular organisms divide at regular intervals.
The cells of multicellular organisms do not. Certain cells
— liver and kidney cells, for instance— divide only when
losses in the organ occur; others —nerve cells, for in-
stance — stop dividing once they have differentiated; and
still others— some epidermis cells and some bone-marrow
cells, for —
instance retain the capacity for cell division.
It has been estimated that the life cycle of a cell
called the cell cycle —from division to division occupies,
on an average, between 20 minutes and 24 hours. The
period between divisions is called interphase and is, in
most cases, the longest part of the cell cycle.
Interphase is by no means a passive period in the life
of a cell. During interphase, cells grow and prepare for
division; food is assimilated; cellular materials are syn-
thesized. As a result, cells become larger, eventually
doubUng in size. The duplication of (Chapter 5) DNA
is completed, most cytologists believe, by midinterphase.
So is the doubling of chromosomes (composed of many
DNA and protein molecules linked together), which oc-
curs when each chromosome splits in half lengthwise.

During the first part of interphase, chromosomes ap-

pear as long, thin threads. After duplication, each
chromosome becomes two more or less parallel threads
called chromatids. Each chromatid pair is linked to-
gether by a tiny unit called a centromere.
Cell division can be subdivided into several specific
stages: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase,
each exhibiting characteristic events. But these subdivi-
sions are far from rigidly defined, for mitosis is a flow
from one stage to another.

70
 During prophase, the dupHcated chromosomes (each
now consisting of the two Unked half-chromosomes or
chromatids) become shorter and fatter. Instead of being
a mass of long, thin threads, chromosomes are now com-
pactly coiled, enabling them to move without becoming
entangled. (Each chromatid coils individually; in addi-
tion, the two chromatids in each chromosome pair coil
around each other.) The nuclear membrane breaks
down, eliminating the barrier between chromosomes and
the rest of the cell. The nucleolus grows smaller and
smaller until, at the end of prophase, it disappears.
During prophase, another important event occurs. In
animals, at one pole or end of the cell, just outside the
nuclear membrane, is a region called the centrosome.
During interphase, this region is occupied by two small
bodies called centrioles. (In some writings each centriole
is described as a two-piece unit, consisting of a parent
and a smaller daughter, set at right angles to each other.)
In prophase, one centriole travels around the nucleus
until it reaches the opposite pole. Each centriole is

ringed with a starlike formation of fibers called the aster.

The two centrioles are also connected from pole to pole
by a ladder of fine filaments called spindle fibers, or sim-
ply, the spindle. Centrioles have not been observed in
plants, but the spindle is present during plant mitosis
and has the same function as the spindle in animal cells.
At some point between prophase and metaphase,
chromosomes move toward the center of the cell. The
centromere of each chromatid pair is attached to the
spindle fibers. Because of this attachment, the spindle
fibers are able to pull the chromosomes toward the cell's
center. One scientist has written that the centromere is

"that part of the chromosome which takes part in mi-

tosis; the rest of the chromosome goes along for the
ride."
During metaphase, the chromosomes lie across the
cell's center. The chromatids are still coiled individually,

71
 Interphase
Aster centriole

Nuclear membrane

Nucleolus

Chromosomes
Plasma membrane

Dissolving ,
*
nuclear membrane

Aster

Centromere

Spmdie

Chromatids
(half chromosomes)

Metaphase

Mitosis can be divided into several specific stages, each with its own
characteristic events.

but they are no longer coiled around each other. Instead,

the sister chromatids lie side by side, separated from each
other except for the centromere that binds each pair.
Aligned along the cell's equator, the centromeres then
divide, providing each sister chromatid with a centro-
mere of its own.
During anaphase, the sister chromatids in each pair
are drawn away from each other and move toward oppo-
site poles, pulled by the spindle fibers. The centromeres

are the first to go, traveling along the spindle and carry-
ing their chromatids with them. Anaphase ends when
two identical sets of chromatids now properly called —
—
chromosomes are collected at opposite poles.

72
 Chromatids
(half chromosomes)

Centromere

Chromosomes

Nuclear membrane

Nucleolus

Two daughter cells

Several significant events occur in the next stage of

mitosis, The chromosomes uncoil. The nu-
telophase.
cleolus reappears. A nuclear membrane forms around
each group of daughter chromosomes. The spindle fibers
disappear. Each centriole, if present, produces a new
centriole. And, most dramatically, the cytoplasm divides
in two parts across the cell's equator.
In plants, the separation of the cytoplasm begins at the
cell's center and extends outward on each side. In ani-
mals, there is a pinching of the plasma membrane from
both sides.
At the end of mitosis (and the beginning of inter-
phase), there are two separate cells instead of one. Each

73
cell has its own plasma membrane, its own cytoplasm,
and its own nucleus. Each has the same number and type
of chromosomes and the same DNA.
After cell division, the daughter cells enter interphase
and grow until they are about the same size as the parent
cell that produced them. Daughter cells are capable of
repeating the mitotic events described above, events
which in their intricacy and orderliness have been com-
pared to the meticulous steps of a ballet.

Meiosis and Sexual Reproduction

Many one-celled organisms, and a few multicellular
organisms such as algae, yeast, and hydra, reproduce new
individuals by mitosis. This kind of reproduction is
asexual, requiring only one parent. Most multicellular
organisms, however, and some unicellular ones, produce
new individuals by means of sexual reproduction. This
requires two parents.
In sexual reproduction, new life begins when two sex
cells, also called germ cells or gametes, fuse to form a
single new cell called a zygote. One sex cell is motile
(moving) and smaller than the other sex cell. The
smaller, motile cell is the sperm, and the larger, non-
motile cell is the tgg. The union of these gametes is
known as fertilization.
In mitosis, as we have seen, the chromosomes of
daughter cells are identical to each other and to those of
the parent cell because only one set of chromosomes is

involved. In sexual reproduction, however, there are two

cells,each with its own set of chromosomes. Every sexu-
ally produced offspring inherits one set of chromosomes
from one parent and a matching set from the other. As
Mendel demonstrated, each parent transmits either a
dominant or recessive gene for every trait. Since it is un-
likely for one parent to transmit all dominant genes, each
offspring will inherit dominant and recessive genes from
both parents. As a result, offspring and parents will not
be identical.

74
 In Chapter 5we noted that each species exhibits a
characteristic number of chromosomes. The character-
istic number of chromosomes in human beings is 46, and
every cell of the body should have 46. But here (and in
all sexually reproducing species) we encounter a di-
lemma.
If an egg with 46 chromosomes unites with a sperm

with 46 chromosomes, the offspring will have 92 chromo-

somes, the next generation 184, and so on. How does
nature maintain a consistent 46 chromosomes in all gen-
erations of human beings?
The answer lies in a process called meiosis, or reduc-
number
tion division. In this kind of cell division, the full
of chromosomes (the diploid number) is cut in half (the
haploid number). As the egg informed from a parent
cell in the female, the chromosome number is reduced

from 46 to 23. In the male, the sperm cell, containing 23

chromosomes, is formed from a cell containing 46. Thus
when a human Qgg and sperm (each with 23 chromo-
somes) unite, the proper total of 46 chromosomes is
achieved in the fertilized Qgg.
Meiosis bears some resemblance to mitosis. Both pro-
cesses follow the same series of phases, and the spindle
fibers serve approximately the same purpose in both. As
in mitosis, the nuclear events in meiosis are basically the
same, whether the dividing cell is that of an insect, a
flower, or a man. (In certain fungi and algae, however,
meiosis occurs after the gametes are produced and fused
in fertilization.)
The between mitosis and meiosis
crucial difference
lies what happens to the number and nature of
in
chromosomes. Meiosis involves two divisions instead of
one. In the course of the two divisions, "there is a reduc-
tion of chromosomes to half the normal amount and a
rearrangement of genetic material within the chromo-
somes themselves.
The first prophase of meiosis is divided into five
phases. In some cells, DNA synthesis and chromosome

75
 Cells that will later form sperm begin with deploid
number of chromo- somes— in this case four.

At the beginning of meiosis the chro-

mosomes pair up or undergo synapsis; each
chromosome is now actually two chromatid
*
threads. * •

Later in meiosis the chromatids become more

visible; each group of four chromatids is called

a bivalent.

During the first anaphase, the

chromatids go to the poles in pairs.

The daughter cells of the first meiotic division

contain two chromosome (each a pair
of chromatids) n stead of four.

There is no duplicat/on of chromosomes at the second meiotic division

but the sister chromatids separate
and migrate/:^. to opposite /^^ ^^^ poles.

^ach of th^ four cells resulting from secom

divis/on contain J(wo chromosomes, th^ haploid nu^iber.

Each of these cells differentiates, without further

division, into a sperm cell.

Meiosis involves two divisions instead of one, in the course of which

there is a reduction of chromosomes to half the normal amount.

76
 —

duplication occur in the first phase; in others, they occur

later.

In the first phase, the full number of chromosomes

appear as single unpaired threads, although each is al-
ready split lengthwise into two chromatids connected by
a single centromere. The chromosomes begin to coil.
In the second stage, specific attractive forces, it is be-
about the pairing (synapsis) of matching
lieved, bring
(homologous) chromosomes. Such pairing does not
occur in mitosis.
Homologous chromosomes are similar in shape, size,
and genetic content. One homologue in each pair is con-
tributed by the father's sperm, and the other homologue
by the mother's egg. Synapsis begins one or several at
points along the length of the chromosomes and then
continues along their entire length.
Chromosome need not be perfectly identical
pairs
that is, at certain points on the chromosomes, one gene
may be a mutant form of its mate. When gene pairs dif-
fer, they are called heterozygous. When gene pairs are

identical, they are called homozygous.

It is interesting to note that an abnormal synapsis of

chromosomes may result in sterility. This frequently oc-

curs in the case of hybrids; for instance, when a red fox
with 34 chromosomes is crossed with an Arctic fox with
52 chromosomes, a hybrid is produced with a diploid
chromosome count of 43. When meiosis occurs in the
young fox, normal synapsis is impossible, and the
gametes cannot function. Hence the offspring fox can
have no offspring of its own.
During the third stage of prophase, the pairs of homol-
ogous chromosomes become increasingly visible. The
chromosomes grow shorter and thicker and continue to
coil. The whole ensemble, known as a bivalent, consists
of four chromatid threads closely associated with each
other.
Genetic crossing-over seems to occur in this stage.

77
 a a

Ji b

In crossing over, chromatids from opposite partners within the

bivalents (group of four chromatids) may exchange positions.

Here chromatids from opposite partners within the biva-

lents (never the sister chromatids) may exchange posi-
tions. This exchange makes each chromosome a combi-
nation of genetic units from both parents. Groups of
genes Hnked together are broken up and redistributed
among the chromosomes. Since crossing-over results in
different selections of genes every time it occurs, the
chromosomes of every sex cell will differ from those of
every other.
The points at which the chromosomes cross are called
chiasmata. In the fourth stage, when chromosomes sepa-
rate, they still retain contact by means of chiasmata,
which appear at one or several points along a chromo-
some's length.
During the last stage, the nucleolus disappears, the
spindle fibers arrive and the nuclear mem-
on the scene,
brane breaks down, releasing the chromosomes into »the

78
cytoplasm. This event heralds the end of prophase and
introduces the first metaphase of meiosis.
In the metaphase, the bivalents are arranged at
first

the center of the cells. But the centromeres (one for each
chromatid pair) are not lined up across the cell's equator
as in mitosis. Instead, they lie on either side of the equa-
tor, at equal distances from it.

In the first anaphase, the two centromeres in each

bivalent (a set of four chromatids) travel along the spin-
dle to opposite poles, pulling the chromosomes with
them. The chiasmata break, allowing the two homolo-
gous chromosomes in each bivalent to move freely away
from each other. By this stage in mitosis each centromere
has already split, so each chromatid has a centromere of
its own and becomes an independent chromosome. But

this spHtting does not occur in meiosis.

Thus, instead of sister chromatids passing to opposite
poles during anaphase, the chromatids go to the poles in
pairs. And when movement
the ceases, only half the
number of chromosomes each a — pair of distinct chro-
matids united at the centromere — are located at each
pole.
In the first telophase of meiosis, the nucleolus reap-
pears, a nuclear membrane forms, the chromosomes un-
and the cell splits in two. Each new cell has half the
coil,

normal number (the haploid number) of chromosomes.

After interphase, during which the chromosomes do
not duplicate themselves, the second meiotic division oc-
curs. The centromeres now split, allowing the sister
chromatids in each pair to separate. An equal number of
chromatids (now called chromosomes) migrate to each
pole. The second division terminates with the forming of
four daughter cells, each containing the haploid number
of chromosomes.

Sex Determination and Sex-Linked Genes

When a male and female sex cell fuse to form a ferti-

lized egg, the characteristic amount of chromosomes is

79
restored. It is also at the moment of fertilization that the
sex of an individual is determined. A single chromosome
in the male sex cell is responsible for the determination
of sex.
The human cell contains 46 chromosomes —one pair
of sex cells and 22 other pairs. In females, the partner sex
chromosomes are identical, and their designation is XX.
In males, the partner sex chromosomes are different, and
their designation is XY. Male sex chromosomes are a
major exception to the rule that paired chromosomes are
homologous.
After the chromosomes are reduced by one-half in the
formation of the tgg, the female sex chromosome will, of
course, always be X. Male cells vary, however, with
about half the sperm cells carrying an X chromosome,
and half carrying a Y.
When an tgg with its X chromosome is fertilized by an
X-carrying sperm cell to form an XX fertilized egg, the
offspring is female. When the Qgg (X) is fertihzed by a
Y-carrying sperm to form an XY fertilized egg, the off-
spring is male.
The chromosomes that determine sex also carry cer-
tain other genetic traits.These are known as sex-Hnked
characteristics. In most species the genes on the Y chro-
mosomes are almost entirely related to sex determina-
tion,and so the term "sex-linked" really refers to genes
on the X chromosome.
Color bhndness, for example, is carried by a recessive
sex-linked gene on the X chromosome. Color blindness
appears most frequently in males. A color-blind man
may pass on color bhndness to his grandsons through his
daughter, who carries the recessive color-blindness gene
without, in most cases, being affected herself. A normal-
sighted woman carrying the gene for color blindness may
transmit it to her sons, even if her husband is normal.
But none of her daughters will be color-blind if the hus-
band is normal. If the husband is color-blind, then the

80
 r a /^^ /^jl^ Color-blind vision
/f
%i %% <?===^ "
Normal vision

// w ® Recessive sex-
linkedgene on
X chromosome
•o.

/ ©0
First generation offspring

N
i
Its
U/ >

If
]1
MM ^ Ml Ji

%t\ /it 6c^e

Married to normal wives Married to normal husbands

^ t
1 . D

ci^
^.
®®
Will have normal children Will have mixed combinations:

»*
A
/ I

I)
®0
<3 O
'^

<3 ^O^
"u A ft
daughters of a normal woman carrying the gene for color
blindness may or may not be normal.
—
Another recessive sex-linked gene also carried on the
X —
chromosome produces hemophiha. Again, women
transmit this disease to men but rarely get it themselves.
Why?
Because every ^ex-linked gene, whether dominant or
.

recessive,must manifest itself in the XY sex. In women

carrying a recessive sex-linked gene on one X chromo-
some, normality will dominate as long as the equivalent
normal gene, carried on the other X chromosome, is
dominant. But males, with their XY combination, are
vulnerable when their X chromosome carries the reces-
sive gene.

Advantages of Sexual Reproduction

The vast majority of living things multiply sexually at
some stage in their life history. Most species are divided
into males and females which are capable of reproducing
exclusively sexually. But some organisms such as certain
protozoa or algae reproduce both sexually and asexually.
Other organisms such as ferns and liverworts alternate a
generation capable only of asexual reproduction with a
generation capable only of sexual reproduction.
Scientists have pointed out that asexual reproduction
(mitosis) of individuals is a much simpler and safer re-

productive process than sexual reproduction. Scientists

have also pointed out that the male is, in effect, wasted in
sexual reproduction since he himself does not bring
forth young. A hazard of sexual reproduction is the vul-
nerability of the developing young —
for example, young
birds or turtles or their eggs are often eaten by predators
or crushed in an accident.
Nevertheless, sexual reproduction is clearly advanta-
geous, for it provides living forms with virtually endless
variation through recombination and segregation. Varia-
tion, in turn, provides the richness of alternatives that

82
makes survival and achievement more likely.

All living things produced by mitosis have a genetic

inheritance identical to the parent cells, except for occa-
sional mutations. And even these mutations can be
passed on only to the cell's lineal descendants. But in the
sexually reproducing species, variation arises in many
ways. When chromosomes from
fertilization occurs, the
two sources are pooled. When meiosis occurs, chromo-
somes are randomly segregated into two homologous
groups, with each meiotic division producing new ran-
dom groupings. When crossing-over occurs, exchanges
between homologues give rise to new gene combinations.
And, of course, when mutation occurs, the altered genes
provide variety.
In an adult organism having two pairs of chromosomes
in each cell, new generation will have only four dis-
the
tinct possibilities. In human beings, however, it has been
calculated that 8,388,608 different types of eggs and an
equal number of types of sperm can be produced by
meiosis —even without the occurrence of crossing-over.
Thus the possible number of different human children
who can be conceived by only one set of parents is at least
70,368,744,177,644. In an environment that slowly and
constantly changes, variation is the cell's "money in the
bank," its "insurance," its opportunity to survive and
develop.

83
 Progress Through Specialization

Unicellural organisms by the billions have survived

and multiplied for vast periods of time. In effect, these
organisms in a way may be considered immortal, for by
splitting in two, their essential material can live on and
on and on.
From the point of view of coping with the environ-
ment, however, a one-celled organism cannot achieve
very much, for it must carry out all the functions of liv-

ing by itself. Multicellular organisms, on the other hand,

have more ability to adjust to the environment and
hence to survive. In the simpler multicellular organisms
various cells differentiate to become specialists, with
some cells performing one type of work and some cells
performing another. By so doing, multicellular organ-
isms can achieve complex adjustments to the complex
external environment and concurrently maintain com-
plete control over their internal environment.
Cells that become part of a community of cells make
many changes. They all are no longer directly immortal,
for many lose their abiUty to divide. Only the germ cells
can survive the death of the organism and live on in
succeeding generations. Specialized cells of a community
of cells lose their versatility, for they can perform only
particular jobs within the organism. They also lose their
independence, for the individual needs of each cell muj^t
defer to the needs of the whole community.

85
 Nevertheless, they gain many positive assets that help
their chances of survival. One of this planet's most re-
markable events is the emergence of the multicellular
organism, the development of a highly complex form
from a single, tiny unit of life.

Stages of Embryonic Development

Multicellular organisms may arise from a bud or from
some other product of asexual reproduction. But, most
frequently, they arise from a single fertilized egg, the
product of sexual reproduction.
As described in Chapter 6, sexual reproduction in-
volves male and female sex cells formed by meiotic divi-
sion. Meiosis in the male produces four identical sperm
cells, each consisting of a head (which contains the nu-
cleus), a middle portion, and a tail (which provides
mobility). The final products of female meiosis are one
Qgg cell and three smaller cells called polar bodies. These
polar bodies play no further role in fertilization or em-
bryonic development and soon degenerate.
At the time of fertilization, millions of sperm cells
swim toward the tgg. After the first sperm cell penetrates
it, the Qgg is usually impervious to all others. (In some

species, more than one sperm cell may enter the tgg, but
only one sperm nucleus fuses with the egg nucleus.)
Once the union of nuclei occurs, the fertilized egg is

ready to start developing.

The Qgg first enters a cleavage stage, during which it

rapidly by mitotic division, into increasing

divides,
numbers of smaller and smaller cells. The chromosomes
are identical in all these cells, but their cytoplasmic con-
tent is not necessarily the same. At the end of the cleav-
age stage, the embryo is a hollow ball — the blastula
composed of thousands of small cells called blastomeres.
Blastomeres will serve as the building blocks for tissues
(groups of compactly organized cells similar in structure
and function), organs, and finally an integrated organ-
ism, t

86
 . —

Gastrulation followsand involves rather

cleavage
complex and extensive movements called morphogenic—
—
movements of various cell groups. At the end of gas-
trulation the cells of the simple, hollow-balled blastula
(of vertebrates) are arranged in three concentric layers
of tissues: the outer layer (ectoderm), the middle layer
(mesoderm ) and the inner layer ( endoderm )
,

The migration of cells continues as the organism de-

velops, and new structures are formed as specialization
increases. The ectoderm gives rise to nails, hair, skin,
skin glands, eyes, ears, a large amount of cartilage, and
the entire nervous system. The mesoderm gives rise to
bone, connective tissue, muscle, blood, blood vessels,
kidneys, gonads, and heart. The endoderm gives rise to
the skin of the throat, the respiratory tract, the digestive
tract, the bladder, and the urethra.
Eventually, the separate organs intermesh, forming
in the human body — ten distinct systems: the skeletal
(bones and cartilage), the digestive (teeth, mouth,
esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas), the
respiratory (lungs, trachea, nose, pharynx), the circula-
tory (heart, arteries, veins, capillaries), the integumen-
tary (skin and hair), the reproductive (testes, ovaries,
uterus, oviducts), the excretory (kidneys and bladder),
the endocrine (ductless glands), the nervous (brain,
spinal cord, nerves, eyes, ears), and the muscular (mus-
cles).
In the late phases of development, the parts of the
embryo begin to function actively: The glands secrete,
the nerves conduct impulses, the embryonic heart pumps
blood. And in its very final steps, it is not differentiation
but the growth of the body and its parts that character-
izes embryonic development.

Preformation and Epigenesis

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many sci-

entists explained embryonic development in terms of a

charming but wild concept called preformation. Accord-

87
 Fertilized egg Blastula

Two cells

Four cells Gastrula

Ectoderm

Endoderm

Eight cells

Ectoderm

Mesoderm
Endoderm

Many cells
Endoderm
Ectoderm

Coelom
Mesoderm

In early embryonic stages, depicted Development of the embryo

here, an organism develops from a in stages from blastula to gas-
single fertilized egg to a gastrula trula.
with three layers of tissue and the
beginning of a body cavity
(coelom).

88
 —

ing to the preformationists, all the

adult parts of a living organism are
formed at the beginning of
perfectly .VQ'
embryonic life, either in the ovum or
in the sperm. Embryonic develop-
ment, they said, simply involved the
growth by enlargement and cell divi-
sion of these minute parts.
Preformation has long since been
thoroughly disproved, but we can ap-
preciate how tempting the hypothesis
must have been. After all, it is hard to
imagine how from a formless egg
come a heart and a brain and, eventu-
ally, a complete new organism.
Contemporaneous with the pre-
formation theory was the theory of
epigenesis —
that is, the development
of new structures in the course of em-
bryonic development. It was epigene-
sis, of course, that won the day,
although not until the beginning of
the nineteenth century.
Today development is defined as a
continuous and gradual process that is
According to the concept of
accompanied by an increase in vol-
preformation, all adult parts
ume and mass and the appearance of of a living organism are per-
new features and functions. Even a fectly formed from the very
single cell undergoes development beginning of embryonic life—
either in the ovum or, as
growing in volume, synthesizing cellu-
shown here, in the sperm.
lar constituents, creating new organ-
elles, and changing its form and
activities. Development does not stop with birth but con-
tinues throughout life. Man, for instance, develops from
a fertilized tgg through prenatal life, childhood, adoles-
cence, sexual maturity, physical maturity, middle age,
senility, and death. The development of the young em-

89
bryo is particularly interesting, however, because almost
all cells assume their specialized functions during that
early time.
Embryological development involves three remarka-
ble processes. The first is growth: an enormous increase
in the number of cells, from a single fertilized egg to
man).
millions (a fly) or billions (a frog) or trillions (a
The second is differentiation: the changing of cell form
and function so that cells become different from each
other and from their earlier forms. The third is integra-
tion: the ability of all individual and different cells to
work together for the unity of the total organism.

Growth
Growth is an increase in mass, the result of many,
many mitotic divisions (Chapter 6). Growth of the or-
ganism does not proceed at a uniform rate; instead, some
parts of the body grow faster than others and some grow
slower; some features come into existence earlier, some
later. Thus growth is more than cell multiplication, for
different centers of growth are active at different times
and at different rates.

Differentiation
An increase in cell number cannot make a man or a
frog or a fly. It is cell differentiation that provides cells
with uniqueness of structure and function.
Cell differentiation involves a progressive narrowing
of choices, an increasingly precise narrowing down of
many possible functions to a single function. Cells be-
come two general ways: by inheriting
differentiated in
different samples of cytoplasm from the egg and by re-
sponding to the different environments in which they
find themselves in the course of development. (By envi-
ronment is meant the effect on a cell of the kinds and
positions of the cells that surround it. In a mass of cells,
for instance, the cells on the surface are exposed to the

90
 Fertilized egg

Middle layer

Outer layer

Inner layer

Cell differentiation involves a progressive narrowing of choices, an

increasingly precise "commitment" to a single area of development.

91
 Ectoderm

Brain

Muscle

Notochord

Endoderm

Cells may become differentiated by inheriting different samples of

the cytoplasm from the original egg, as shown in this drawing of a
fertilized tunicate egg.

outside world, while the cells in the interior are exposed

only to the other cells.

In most Qgg cells, various regions of the cytoplasm

show differences in content, with the cytoplasm graded
into areas containing different samples of the egg mate-
rial. In many species, the nonuniform distribution of
cytoplasm clearly and fully predetermines the egg's de-
velopment, with certain areas recognizable as those
which will give rise to the brain, the intestines, the fu-
ture germ cells, and so on.
Cellular differentiation resulting from the inheritance
of cytoplasmically different regions of the egg as it di-

vides and divides probably occurs, to some extent, in all

species. This inheritance may be regarded as a bias which
can in some cases be modified or reversed but in other
cases is absolutely uninfluenced by environment.
between two modes of differenti-
Scientists distinguish
ation — —
mosaic and regulative based on the inheritance-
environment distinction, which operates, of course,
within the genetic limitations of the cell.

In mosaic development (clams and starfish are good

92
 )

examples) the differences between the early cells are

chiefly the product of inheritance (different cytoplasmic
components). As a result, specific cells in an embryo are
committed to develop into specific parts of the body very
early in cleavage. If cells are removed from a mosaic
embryo, the specific body parts corresponding to the re-
moved cells will be missing, and the embryo will be in-

complete.
In regulative development (chick and frog embryos
are good examples) the differences between cells are
primarily a result of their response to cell environment
— or their location in the cell community. If certain cells
are removed from a regulative embryo, the remaining
cells will assume the functions of the missing ones and

the resulting embryo will be normal. (Even here, how-

ever, the remaining cells eventually lose the capacity to
reproduce missing ones.
Most, if not embryos exhibit both mosaic and reg-
all,

ulative patterns of development. In general, young cells

tend to be more influenced by their environment than
are mature cells.
Thus, if groups of young cells are cut out of an
embryo and transplanted to the head region of another
embryo, they become part of the head; if transplanted to
the back, they become back cells. Other cells, however,
cannot be modified by cell environment; if the leg bud
of a chick embryo is implanted in the body cavity of an-
other embryo, a well-formed chick leg, complete with
bones and muscles, will result inside the body.
Descriptions of cell differentiation do not answer one
of science's most challenging questions What is there in
:

a single fertilized cell that can make eye cells, heart cells,
bone cells, long nerve cells, globular fat-storage cells,
fibrous muscle cells, and so on all from one common an-
cestor? Although present knowledge is limited, several
efforts to explain the mechanism of cell differentiation
have been made.

93
 We learned earlier in this book that all cells in a given
multicellular organism have identical DNA, identical
chromosomes, and identical genes. If this is so, then
every specialized cell must contain all the organism's
genes; in other words, a nerve cell must have muscle
genes and genes that synthesize hemoglobin and genes
that synthesize insulin, as well as the genes that make
a nerve cell. These other genes, however, do not actively
manifest themselves.
We also learned that a cell's structure and function are
largely dependent on its proteins, that proteins are built
according to instructions from messenger RNA, and that
messenger RNA is copied from DNA, whose sequence of
bases specify the order of the amino acids in proteins.
It is thought that in differentiated cells, only certain
portions of the DNA
molecule are copied, giving rise to
different messenger RNA's. (Experiments with certain
insects have revealed that specific sections along their
chromosomes "puff," or swell up, and that the puffing is

the site of RNA synthesis.) Diverse RNA messengers

then convey one set of instructions from the DNA blue-
print to cellA, another set of instructions to cell B, and
so on. Obeying these instructions, cell A builds one set of
proteins, and cell B builds a different set. As a result,
cells A and B have totally different forms and functions,

although they both carry identical nuclear blueprints.

These modifications of nuclear behavior appear to be
brought about by influences in the cytoplasm, influences
which cause identical nuclei to act in different ways.
Since cytoplasm seems to vary from one cell type to the
next, it seems likely that specific factors in the cytoplasm
activate certain specific genes. In the course of cell differ-
entiation, nuclei eventually lose their capacity to develop
along any one of a number of lines —even removed if

from the influence of cytoplasmic environment

their
— and will reproduce only one — nerve
type of cell a cell

or a blood cell or cells for the leg of a chick.

94
 According to some scientists, chemical compounds
known as releasers are present in the cytoplasm and in-

teract with genes. A cell that makes insulin, for example,

would originally have the capacity to make hemoglobin
— —
and everything else but the releaser releases only the
gene's capacity to make insulin, leaving genes for such
operations as hemoglobin synthesis inoperative.
Some about cytoplasmic substances
scientists also talk
that act as inactivators or inhibitors. These substances
may block all the DNA
sequences except those needed
for a particular cell.
In the endoderm, for instance, certain segments of the
DNA chain may be activated (either by the presence of a
releaser or the absence ofan inhibitor or some combina-
tion of the two). RNA is copied only from these acti-
vated segments, and enzymes or other proteins are built.
A new structure begins to evolve, and it activates other
segments of the DNA, which in turn produce other RNA
copies, which guide the making of protein. Eventually,
by a long series of these chemical steps, the gradually
exposed portions of DNA build a differentiated cell. The
portions of the DNA that contain mesoderm and ecto-
derm remain forever masked.

Integration
The third vital process in development is integration.
Integration results in a unified and harmonious whole
that is somehow more than the sum of its parts.
Integration means that similar cells form coherent tis-

sues and organs instead of useless, unrelated clumps. It

means that each developing subsystem is informed of

what is going on in other parts of the organism so that
developmental phases occur in the appropriate order. In-
tegration also means the working together of all the spe-
cialized cells of all the specialized systems that have,
astoundingly, emerged in the due and proper course of
time from one unprepossessing cell.

95
 8
Controlling Cell Behavior

The must act

specialized parts of an organism to-

gether. Nerves, hormones, and mechanisms in each cell

are responsible for the internal control of cell behavior,

which produces integrated functioning.
Throughout the life of the higher animals, the nerv-
ous system exercises control by organizing and directing
the various systems of the body —
circulatory, respiratory,
digestive, and so on— with their dealings with each other
and with the outside world. Present in both plants and
animals are hormones, the chemical substances that, out-
side the nervous system, exercise control by regulating
growth and other cellular activities. And within all cells
are special control mechanisms which enable them to
perform their many tasks and, by doing so, to maintain
the equilibrium of the entire organism.

The Nervous System

Primitive living creatures, today as in earliest times,
which enables
exhibit a characteristic called irritability
them to respond to a stimulus, a change in the environ-
ment. But since unicellular organisms —
an amoeba, for
instance —must carry out all life tasks by themselves, we
could hardly expect these one-celled creatures to be ex-
pert in any one area of function and exhibit, for ex-
ample, a high degree of irritability.
In complex animals, it is the highly developed and

97
specialized nervous system that responds to stimuli from
the organism's environment —both its internal and ex-
ternal environment. The nervous system makes it possi-
ble to walk and talk, see and hear, touch, taste, and smell.
The nervous system regulates different kinds of activities
by linking sense organs, such as those found in eyes and
ears, with motor OFgans —
muscles and glands. It provides
effective communication between the various portions of
the organism so that they work together instead of at
odds. The nervous system also determines the quality
and quantity of a response, stores memories, maintains
habits, permits learning, records dreams, and composes
thoughts.
The nervous system consists of several parts: the
brain, the spinal column, and the peripheral nerves, all

made up of bundles of electrically charged nerve cells, or

neurons, the basic units of the nervous system. The brain
and spinal column together form the central nervous sys-
tem, seat of all voluntary actions. The peripheral nerves
make up the peripheral nervous system with particular
organs. Nerves known as sympathetic and parasympa-
thetic nerves comprise the autonomic nervous system,
which regulates the action of the digestive system, heart,
lungs, and other involuntary functions. The three sys-
tems are totally interrelated.
All the activities of the complete nervous system de-
pend on the system's ability to send and receive messages
via electrical impulses directed over specific pathways.
These impulses are conducted by two types of neurons:
sensory neurons and motor neurons. These are linked by
intermediate, or connecting, neurons.
Sensory neurons are familiar ones like the nerve cells
connected with special sense organs: sight, taste, smell.
Then there are sensory neurons scattered on the skin
which give rise to touch, pressure, pain, heat, and cold
sensations. Still other sensory neurons receive sensations

98
 m.
'•&«
The typical neuron has an
irregular shape from which
extend branching, treelike
dendrites and a single, usu-
ally thicker, axon.

from organs within the body —from muscles, tendons,

ligaments, and joints.
Sensory neurons relay to the brain any stimuli that
arise at special receptor sites. The brain interprets the
stimuH and sends back appropriate messages, via motor
neurons, to muscles and glands, where a response to the
change in environment occurs.
Sometimes there is a response to a stimulus before the
brain actually registers what has happened. This re-
sponse, called a reflex, may be blinking, jerking a knee,
sneezing, coughing, or dropping a pan that is unexpect-
edly too hot to hold.
There are also many actions that become, after a pe-
riod of training, the so-called conditioned reflexes. The
classic example was up by the Russian physiologist
set
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, who trained a dog to associate the
ringing of a bell with the arrival of food so that the dog
eventually salivated at the mere sound of the bell even
when no food appeared.
The human nervous system contains billions of
neurons. UnHke bone and skin cells, however, neurons
are incapable of growing as the body grows. The grown
man has the same number of neurons he had when he

99
was born, and the old man has fewer, for when a nerve
cell dies, it is never replaced.
The typical neuron has an irregular shape from which
extend one or more branching, treelike filaments called
dendrites and a single, usually longer, thicker extension
called an axon. Dendrites are receivers; they carry signals
to the cell. Axons are transmitters; they carry signals
from the cell to muscles and to other nerve cells.
Nerve cells carry impulses in one direction only. That
is, sensory neurons always carry impulses to the brain or
spinal cord and motor neurons always carry impulses
from the brain or spinal cord.
As signals travel to and from the brain, they pass from
the axon of one neuron to the dendrite of the next neu-
ron. But the neurons do not touch each other at any
point. Instead, between the axon of one neuron and the
dendrite of the next there is always a tiny gap called a
synapse, which the impulse must span as it travels from
neuron to neuron.
How does the nerve impulse span the gap?cannot It

do so by an electrical "leap" from one conducting

medium to another because the electrical potentials are
simply not large enough. Instead, when an impulse
reaches the synapse, a chemical reaction occurs: The sub-
stance acetylcholine is liberated at the axon ending of
one neuron and is "squirted" across the synapse to the
dendrite of the next neuron, thereby initiating a new
nerve impulse. This electrical effect then travels to the
next gap, where the chemical effect takes over, and on
the impulse goes. If the axon of a neuron terminates in a
muscle, the axon divides into numerous branches, each
ending in a separate muscle fiber. There, too, there is a
gap. Once again, the chemical effect bridges the gap,
causing the muscle fibers to contract.
Neurons also pass along inhibitory impulses — that is,

impulses which prevent a cell from being activated by

excitatory messages coming in from other channels.

100
 A nerve fiber has no impulse gradations; it is either in
a state of full activity or at complete rest, exhibiting be-
havior known as an all-or-nothing response. Nerves,
however, are capable of responding differently to stimuli
of different intensities, for as a stimulus grows stronger,
more and more of the nerve fibers connected with an
organ are signaled.
The electrical impulses conducted by neurons do not
move at the same rate. As a rule, the thicker the axon, the
faster the speed of the impulse. Satellite cells called
Schwann's sometimes wrap around the axon, coat-
cells

ing it with a fatty layer called the myelin sheath, which

enables the axon to conduct impulses more rapidly.
Electrical impulses are essentially identical in every
cell, whether the impulse comes from the eye, the ear, or
the tongue. Thus the impulses are not, in any sense, true
messengers, for their meaning is determined not by the
sender, but by the region of the brain into which the
impulse eventually discharges. For instance, if a neuron
responding to heat were connected to the "cold center"
of the brain, the organism would feel cold whenever the
heat receptor was stimulated.
Various regions of the brain — the cerebrum, the
cerebellum, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the brain
stem — are centers for various kinds of information. In
addition to the regions that can register sensation, there
are regions that find patterns and relationships among
the sensations received and still other regions that trans-
late these patterns into actions —whether that action is

tying a shoelace or spouting the theory of relativity.

Hormones
Although the nervous system is considered the most
important integrating system of the higher animals, or-
ganization and control of the body are not exclusively its

domain. In addition to the electrical system based on the

brain, spinal cord, nerves, and sense organs, there exists a

101
chemical system based on a wide range of chemical sub-
stances called hormones.
In animals, hormones are secreted by ductless or en-
docrine glands and are directly released into the blood-
stream. The blood then transports the hormones to other
parts of the organism, where they play a part in regulat-
body processes. Some hormones
ing the activity of -all the
also control the manufacture and secretion of each other,
thus providing an overall balance.
Many glands, such as the salivary and gastric glands,
secrete enzymes which flow through ducts into places
where they will be used. Such glands do not concern us
here. We are speaking only of ductless, or endocrine,
glands — the thyroid, the parathyroid, the pancreas, the
sex organs, the adrenals, and the pituitary — all of whose
secretions exercise essential control over body behavior.
The thyroid gland, an H-shaped, double-lobed, iodine-
containing gland located in the neck, secretes a hormone
that regulates the rate of metabolism and influences
growth, oxidation, and mental and sexual development.
As we noted earlier, cells obtain energy by burning food.
The thyroid hormone determines whether the burning
rate is too swift, too slow, or just right. The thyroid
hormone is also needed for the metamorphosis of lower
animals; tadpoles, for instance, cannot become frogs if

their thyroid glands are removed. Abnormalities of the

thyroid may produce a large lump in the front of the
neck called a goiter or even cretinism a severe stunting—
of physical and mental development.
Embedded in the back of the thyroid are four small
parathyroid glands, which regulate the amount of cal-
cium in the blood. One parathyroid secretion breaks
down calcium stored in bone so that calcium in solution
can pour into the bloodstream. A second parathyroid
hormone, calcitonin, serves the opposite function by re-
ducing the amount of calcium in the blood. The growth
and strength of bones and the normal performance of
i

102
 Pituitary gland

Thyroid gland

Parathyroid gland

Adrenal glands

Pancreas

Ovaries

The hormones secreted by ductless glands exercise essential control

over body behavior.

103
muscles and nerves depend on a stable calcium balance.
A low concentration of calcium causes tetany, a convul-
sive tightening ofmuscles that eventually leads to death.
An overactive parathyroid results in excessive bone ero-
sion and consequent weakening.
The pancreas is both a ducted and ductless gland. As a
ducted gland, it secretes a variety of digestive enzymes.
As a ductless gland", it has the vital responsibility of
maintaining the proper glucose level in the blood.
Present in the bloodsteam, glucose is used by cells as

their source of energy. Any glucose not used by the cells

is then carried to the liver and stored as the insoluble
compound glycogen. (If glucose were permitted to flood
the bloodstream, the blood would become too thick for
the heart to pump.) When the glucose level in the blood
rises —
above normal, the pancreas through a special
—
group of cells called the islands of Langerhans is stimu-
lated to produce a high quantity of the hormone insulin.
Insulin lowers the blood glucose level, apparently by
making cells more permeable to glucose. As the blood
glucose drops, so does the secretion of insuHn.
The pancreas also produces a far less familiar hor-
mone, glucagon, which acts oppositely to insuHn. Glu-
cagon speeds the breakdown of the glycogen in the liver
to glucose, and the glucose then pours into the blood-
stream, raising the blood glucose level.
fails to produce
In the disease diabetes, the pancreas
enough insulin,and excess glucose accumulates in the
blood. Production of excess insulin, on the other hand,
results in hypoglycemia —
low blood sugar.
The sex organs (testes and ovaries) not only produce
sex cells (gametes) but have, in addition, certain cells
which serve as ductless glands. Ovaries secrete estrogen,
and testes secrete androgen. These hormones maintain
the sex urge, control the workings of the reproductive
system, and produce secondary sex characteristics.
The adrenal glands are located above the kidneys.

104
Each adrenal gland has an outer region, the cortex, and
an inner region, the medulla.
The adrenal cortex, which secretes cortisone and other
hormones similar to cortisone, is absolutely essential to
life. This gland controls the metabolism of water, min-
erals, and carbohydrates; regulates kidney functioning;
inhibits the secretion of the adrenocorticotrophic hor-
mone, ACTH;
and performs many of the same tasks re-
quired of the sex hormones. Damage to the adrenal
cortex results in a usually fatal ailment called Addison's
disease.
The adrenal medulla secretes epinephrine, also known
as adrenalin, a hormone which is responsible for emer-
gency reactions. In situations evoking anger, fear, or any
intense emotion, adrenalin raises the blood pressure,
speeds the heart beat, produces gooseflesh, and makes
possible certain acts of physical endurance (long and
rapid running, the lifting of heavy objects) inconceiva-
ble under normal circumstances.
The pituitary is often called the master gland of the
endocrine system, for many
hormones control the
of its

workings of other endocrine glands. Located in a hollow

at the base of the skull, the pituitary has a front (ante-
rior) lobe and a back (posterior) lobe, each with its own
functions. The pituitary also has an intermediate lobe,
but it is not so well developed in man as in other ani-
mals. In some animals, the intermediate lobe produces a
hormone (intermedin) that alters the color scheme of
the organism, permitting it to be camouflaged or
blended with its external environment. The function of
the intermediate lobe in man has not been established.
The posterior lobe of two
the pituitary produces
hormones: oxytocin, which helps regulate blood pres-
sure and stimulates the smooth muscles; and vasopressin,
which controls the amount of water that flows through
the kidneys.
The anterior lobe secretes at least six different hor-

105
mones: One stimulates sex glands; one controls the sex-
ual cycle; one stimulates mammary glands to secrete milk
after an offspring is born; TSH (thyroid-stimulating
hormone) affects the thyroid gland; ACTH (adreno-
hormone) stimulates the adrenal cortex;
corticotrophic
and a hormone known as the growth hormone encour-
ages the enlargement of bones. An undersecretion of the
growth hormone results in dwarfs and midgets; an over-
secretion produces giants.
The hormones described above are particularly char-
acteristic of insects and vertebrates. Most higher plants
contain other hormones, including root hormones, leaf
hormones, bud hormones, and flowering hormones. An-
other group of hormones in higher plants, known as
auxins, regulates cell elongation and division.
Auxins are produced at regions of rapid cell division,
such as the tips of stems and roots, then migrate behind
the tip to the zone of elongation, where they promote
the elongation of individual cells. Auxins influence bud
development, the falling of leaves and fruit, and cell di-
vision; in addition, they control the direction of a plant's
growth.
Growth response in plants is induced by a variety of
environmental stimuli. Plants may exhibit responses to
light (phototropism), gravity (geotropism), chemicals
(chemotropism), and others. Plants may also respond to
the stimulus in either a positive or negative fashion, de-
pending on the response of certain cells to the auxins.
Leaves and stems, for instance, grow toward light (posi-
tive phototropism) and away from the pull of the earth's
gravity (negative geotropism), while roots behave in the
opposite manner.

The Cell's Steady State

Control mechanisms exist on every Organs have
level.

a variety of control mechanisms, each of which is made

up of tissues. Tissues have control mechanisms made up

106
of cells. And cells have control mechanisms made up of
molecules.
On all mechanisms
these levels, the function of control
is to maintain a steady state, known formally as homeo-

stasis. In living things, a steady state is one of dynamic

equilibrium, with self-regulating devices adjusting to

constantly changing conditions in order to reestablish
and maintain balance. An example of dynamic equilib-
rium in humans is weight, which remains constant as one
eats, excretes, exercises, and carries on daily activities. If
one diets or suffers from an illness, the equilibrium will
be upset.
All higher controls —on the nerve and hormone level,

for instance —depend on the maintenance of a steady

state at the cellular level. This is achieved, ultimately, by
genes, and, more directly, by the regulatory process
known as feedback.
All the reactions within a cell involved in maintaining

/
Stimulus
><i
m i
\ \ Sensory /^ r^ Motor >
^V, Response^

1
jj/pathway V" ^pathway \

Information
flow

In living things a steady state Is one of dynamic equilibrium, with

self-regulating devices adjusting to constantly changing conditions in
order to reestablish and maintain balance.

107
a steady state — nutritional reactions, respiratory reac-
tions, motion-producing reactions, synthesizing reactions
— are completely dependent on enzymes (Chapter 4),
which control both the rate of reactions and the order in
which they proceed. And, it is believed, a specific gene
carries the code of the amino-acid sequence for a specific
enzyme (Chapter. 5). Thus, in the long run, genes de-
termine the nature of enzymes, thereby determining the
nature of the reactions that enzymes promote. By so
doing, genes bear the ultimate responsibility of regulat-
ing all the cell's control mechanisms.
But all regulation is not directly gene-controlled.
Feedback is essential for the maintenance of a steady
state. As described earlier in this book, a cell's plasma
membrane is permeable so that materials needed to sup-
ply the cell's chemical activities may enter the cell, while
by-products of these activities may leave. The cell's

permeability is also variable, adjusting the quantity of

material passing across the membrane to meet the ever-
changing needs of the cell.
Molecular flow through the plasma membrane is regu-
lated in part by the size of the molecules, by the structure
of the membrane, and by conditions outside the mem-
brane. But there are also mechanisms within the cell that
regulate molecular flow. The process known as feedback
makes this possible and is essential for maintenance of a
steady state of the cell's control mechanisms.
Feedback may be defined as a continuous, cyclical pro-
cess whereby the results brought about by a certain
control mechanism are fed back into the information
available to that control mechanism, which then regulates
itself in accordance with the results it has produced. The
classic example of feedback is the action of a thermostat
in controlling a furnace. When a house is cold, the
thermostat turns on the furnace, and the temperature of
the house rises to the desired level. When the tempera-
ture reaches that level, the thermostat turns off the fur-

108
nace. Feedback is operative in the nervous and endocrine
systems, as well as in individual cells.

On every level, from cell to total organism, control

mechanisms work to achieve a steady state, for in this
condition can be maintained for the longest possible
life

period of time. Nerves and hormones are control mecha-

nisms that support the equilibrium of the body as a
whole. But unless homeostasis exists in the individual
cell, the organism will be unsound and may eventually

sicken and die.

109
 The Death of the Cell

Cells wear by
out. Cells are injured. Cells are attacked
disease. Cells die. In this final chapter, we will examine
some of the threats to cellular health and survival and see
what has been done, both by the cell itself and by the
scientist, to preserve and lengthen life.

Bacteria and Viruses

Many infectious diseases are caused by bacteria and
viruses, which can attack cells and endanger the health of
the entire organism. In man, bacteria are responsible for
such ailments as typhoid, tetanus, tuberculosis, cholera,
and bubonic plague. More than three hundred different
viruses produce diseases in plants and animals, including
— in man — measles, mumps, influenza, polio, chicken
pox, smallpox, rabies, yellow fever, and the common
cold. Many animal cancers have been proven to be
caused by viruses, and it now appears that at least some
human cancers are caused by a virus.
Bacteria are tiny, primitive cellular organisms, neither
plant nor animal, that live almost everywhere —on land,
sea, air, and in the bodies of plants and animals. The
majority of bacteria grow best in moderate temperatures
(80° to 100° F), in moist, dark surroundings, with suit-
able food and nutrient supplies. The pathogenic (disease-
causing) bacteria that invade the bodies of animals and
plants are parasites, requiring living tissues as their food
supply.

Ill
 There are three typical forms of bacteria: rod-shaped
(bacillus), spherical (coccus, as in streptococcus), and
spiral (spirillum). Pathogenic bacteria may directly at-
tack tissues or produce poisonous substances called
toxins.
Far smaller than a bacterium is the virus, the simplest
thing that exhibits the basic properties of living systems.
Although it is Without a nucleus, cytoplasm, and plasma
membrane, a virus can produce copies of itself, as it is
composed of a shell of protein encasing a DNA (or some-
times RNA) core. But viruses are parasites, requiring
the living host cells of animals, plant, or bacteria in order
to live and reproduce. Outside the host cell, a virus
ceases all activity, and, like salts, can be crystallized.
With these features, which belong to both the animate
and inanimate worlds, viruses may be regarded as a half-
way stage between the living and nonliving of the earth.
Most knowledge about the operation of viruses comes
from studies of the viruses that attack bacteria. These
viruses areknown as bacteriophages, or simply phages.
The invasion of a phage begins with a normal, unin-
fected bacterium cell to which a phage virus becomes
attached by means of tiny hooks. An enzyme in the tail of
the phage dissolves an opening in the bacterial wall, the
tail injects the DNA of the phage core into the cell, and
the empty protein shell of the phage virus is shucked off.

Next, there is a dramatic takeover of the host cell's

chemical facilities, as the phage DNA directs the host cell

more and more phage. The bacterium is
to synthesize
soon swarming with phage particles, and the bacterial
cell bursts, releasing the phages to infect other cells. This
cell-by-cell invasion is known as infection. Cells must
fight this infection or they will die.

Antigens, Antibodies, Immunity

Antigens are substances, usually containing protein,
that are foreign to certain organisms. When antigens,

112
 DNA

.*"'
'\'y-'''-iMi^^f'''
•* *'* ****-'.* *
^1

Bacterium cell

Virus shell

Newly created phages

When a bacteriophage attacks a bacterium cell, it (A) becomes

attached to the bacterium by tiny hooks, (B) injects the DNA of the
phage core into the cell, (C) directs the host cell to synthesize more
phages until (D) the bacterial cell bursts, releasing the phages.

113
such as viruses and bacteria, invade an organism, their
foreignness is immediately recognized by the host, which
responds to their presence by producing disease-fighting
proteins called antibodies. Antibodies combine with the
antigenic material, as they are specific substances, each
type designed to attack a specific type of antigen. Anti-
bodies form only in the presence of foreign bodies, with
production beginning a few hours after the antigens are
introduced. A
few days later, the antibodies enter the
bloodstream, where they may remain for weeks or years.
An individual may be exposed to an average of 100,000
different antigens during his lifetime, but his body will
produce antibodies for each kind of antigen. Scientists
believe that each antibody fits like a key into the foreign
antigen lock.
Recent research indicates the presence of an antivirus
protein called interferon, which fights not just one spe-
cific virus, but many different kinds.
There are several types of antibodies. Antibodies
known as antitoxins combine with certain bacterial se-
cretions and neutralize them. Other antibodies, known
as agglutinins, cause certain bacteria to agglutinate
(clump together), which condition bacteria are easily
in
destroyed by phagocytic cells. (Phagocytes are wander-

ing white blood cells which migrate through tissue fluids

to the site of an infection, where they engulf any invad-
ing organisms and digest them with enzymes.) Still other
antibodies are cytolysins, which cause certain bacteria to
dissolve; precipitins, which cause bacteria to settle out in
the blood, where they are then filtered out; and opso-
nins, which combine with certain substances in bacteria
and prepare them for phagocytic ingestion.
The body's resistance to infectious diseases is called
immunity. There are various kinds of immunity.
With some dramatic exceptions (TB and undulant
fever, for example) man is immune to animal diseases.

114
Immunity to animal diseases is called animal immunity,
and it is present at birth. Another type of immunity is
acquired immunity, which occurs during the life of the
individual.
Acquired immunity may be active or passive. Passive
immunity is artificially acquired by receiving injections
of antibodies produced by other individuals. Active im-
munity is naturally acquired in the course of recovering
from an infectious disease. It is artificially acquired when
the organism takes in biological preparations (commonly
weakened pathogenic organisms,
called shots) of dried or
which stimulate the organism to form antibodies.
Preparations of weakened or killed pathogenic organ-
isms, which stimulate the recipient to produce antibodies
against disease, are known as vaccines. In addition to
vaccines, there are immunization treatments that involve
injecting the victim with antibodies specific for a disease.
These antibodies are contained in a serum, which gener-
ally comes from the blood of an animal that has been
inoculated with a disease and then has produced anti-
bodies against it.

Infectious diseases are also fought with specific chemi-

cals, like the sulfa drug family, which can kill harmful
organisms with only limited damage to anything else.
There are, in addition, a group of chemical substances
known as antibiotics (penicillin, streptomycin, etc.),
which are actually produced by living organisms (bac-
teria and molds).
As with all living things, survival of the fittest applies
to the bacteria world. Vaccines and antibiotics when
used repeatedly will kill off all susceptible bacteria, but
the resistant ones will survive, multiply, and produce
new which the old antibiotics cannot harm.
strains
Although the manufacture of antibodies is a lifesaving
device, it has certain disadvantages. The body may also
produce antibodies to combat foreign bodies that are

115
harmless — foods, pollen, certain drugs. A strong anti-
body response to harmless invaders is called an allergy.
Antibodies also interfere with the physicians' attempts to
replace damaged tissues and organs with healthy tissues
and organs supplied by another individual. The body
cannot distinguish between these useful foreigners and
dangerous bacteria and viruses; it promptly produces
antibodies that react against them. A striking exception
occurs when foreign tissue is transplanted from one part
of the human body to another of the same body as — skin
grafting — or from one identical twin to the other. The
transplant is successful because the genetic material of
the same individual or of the two twin individuals is the
same, and the body does not recognize the transplanted
matter as foreign.
Efforts to combat antibodies for the purpose of allow-
ing tissue and organ transplant have been largely unsatis-
factory, for when radiation and special drugs are used to
kill antibody-producing processes, the patient becomes

vulnerable to all kinds of infections. Heart transplants

undertaken first in South Africa and in many other parts
of the world were successful for a period of time, but
primarily because of antibody rejection of the transplant,
not for as long as doctors had hoped. However, these and
other continuing experiments seem to hold out promise
for the future.
One approach to the antibody-production problem in
tissue transplant can be based on the fact that the body
when attacked by a vast quantity of foreign agents suffers
an immunological paralysis and fails to produce anti-
bodies. While this is a disastrous response when the for-
eign agent is an infectious organism, it is desirable when
grafted tissue is involved. Current work with animals in-
volves injecting large doses of killed cells from the poten-
tial transplant donor. These dead cells may paralyze

116
antibody production and pave the way for successful
grafts from the donor.

Cancer
As explained in Chapter 6, the growth of cells within a
multicellular organism is controlled with great precision.
But sometimes the controls that limit cellular growth fail
to function, and body cells grow freely and rapidly. This
malignant, uncontrolled growth of cells is known as
cancer.
Cancer cells do not generally differentiate and special-
ize. All their energies go toward uncontrolled growth
rather than precise function. Their activity is not inhib-
ited by contact with other cells. Instead of taking their
place within a tissue, cancer cells migrate to neighboring
areas and may eventually travel to other parts of the
body where they establish new growths.
Numerous have been proposed about the
theories
origin of cancer. It is possible that cancer may be a vari-
ety of a special disease that leads to uncontrolled growth
of cells. The mutation theory proposes that cancer cells
are normal cells that have undergone a genetic change
permitting them to escape normal body controls. The
carcinogenic (cancer-causing) agents, according to this
theory, are various chemical substances known as mu-
tagens which produce mutations by directly altering
DNA.
Cancer has also been attributed to viruses; to mechan-
ical irritations, such as a hot clay pipestem on the lip; to

chemical irritation such as cigarettes, which may set up a

focus spot for virus infection; and to disturbances in
hormone and enzyme functioning. All these theories can
perhaps fit nicely into the one concept of mutogenesis, or
the changing of the gene structure by some agent. Cancer
may also be the result of the degenerative changes that
occur with aging. It has been suggested that perhaps

117
there is a deterioration of the cell's control mechanisms
as the organism grows older.
Cancer either by interfering with the normal
kills

workings of the body or by stealing the body's vital nour-

ishment. The best treatment for cancer is early detection
and removal by surgery. Cancer cells are also killed by
radiation therapy and chemical agents. Certain cancers,
such as that of the placenta and perhaps some cases of the
cancer of lymph nodes called Hodgkin's disease, have
now been completely cured. There are now patients sur-
viving more than ten years who appear to be free of the
disease.
One hope for a cancer cure lies in fuller understand-
ing of the body's control mechanisms, which may even-
tually result in the ability to correct control failures. It
may also be possible someday to devise a specific poison
that kills cancer cells without damaging normal cells.

But, essentially, cancer is a disease of organization that is

being better understood by scientists as more informa-

tion is gathered on how a normal, healthy organism
works.

Life-span and Death

We can, in a sense, consider unicellular organisms
immortal, but for all we must say that
practical purposes
organisms age and humans, muscles become less
die. In
effective and bones more brittle. Tissues degenerate and
the healing processes slow down. Then, one day, a vital
organ stops functioning, and the organism dies.
Every plant and animal species has a different span of
life. For certain insects the life-span may be a few

days, for man about 70 years, for California's bristlecone

pine trees several thousand years. The cells within an
organism also show signs of aging, and they too have
varying life-spans. An epithelial cell from the intestinal
lining lives about one and a half days, white blood cells

118
live about 13 days, red blood cells about 120 days, and
nerve cells about 100 years.
It appears likely that most organisms have not only a
mechanism for reproduction and growth but also an
aging mechanism, which brings life to an end when its

useful period There may well be species-specific,

is over.
genetically determined life limitation both for cells and
for the organisms they comprise.
Death is usually treated outside religious circles as a
negative phenomenon, something that science must fight
and perhaps someday defeat. But it has been pointed out
that cells often die as part of the normal creative process
of development, in which case they serve a clearly posi-
tive function. Cells die, for instance, in the course of
metamorphosis, which involves a change in shape and a
change in organs. They also die as organs and body con-
tours are formed; for instance, the death of cells elimi-
nates the webbing between fingers and toes and frees the
elbow of a chick wing from the body wall.
On the multicellular level there also appear to be cer-
tain benefits from death; it clears the way for new indi-
viduals, with their new evolutionary advantages. Indeed,
in most seems to be determined by the
cases, life-span
time it takes for an organism to reach maturity and pro-
duce offspring. (Annual plants can be kept alive for
years if flowering is prevented.) Beyond that point, evo-
lutionarily speaking, continued survival does not serve
much purpose.
But man, it seems, is unwilling to consider himself a
tool of evolution, to be cast aside when his biological
tasks are done and produced and weaned.
his offspring
He talks about such qualities as wisdom and experience,
qualities for which individuals are worth preserving long
after they have sent the next generation into the world.
The ability to continue living long after our allotted
four-score-and-ten-years, to continue experiencing the

119
pleasures and perhaps sorrows of an ever-changing
world, seems a desirable condition.
And so the study of cells is also an endeavor to cure the
ailments of cells, reducing morbidity and extending the
span of life. As scientists examine cellular structure,
photosynthesis, and respiration, as they examine protein
synthesis, RNA, and DNA, examine cell repro-
as they
duction and emb'ryonic development and control mech-
anisms, they are seeking answers that will help them not
only understand but manipulate life's basic unit — the
living cell.

120
i.

K'
 Bibliography
Allfrey, Vincent and Mirsky, Alfred E., "How
G.,
Cells Make Molecules." Scientific American, Septem-
ber, 1961.
AsiMOV, Isaac, The Chemicals of Life. New York, Sig-
net Science Library, 1962.
Beadle, George and Muriel, The Language of Life,
New York, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1966.
Biological Science: Molecules to Man, Biological Sci-
ences Curriculum Study. Boston, Houghton Mifflin
Co., 1968.
Bonner, John Tyler, The Ideas of Biology. New York,
Harper and Bros., 1962.
Bracket, Jean, "The Living Cell." Scientific Ameri-
can, September, 1961.
Butler, John A. V., The Life of the Cell. New York,
Basic Books, Inc., 1964.
De Robertis, E. D. p., Nowinski, Wiktor W., and
Saez, Francisco A., Cell Biology. Philadelphia, W.
B. Saunders Co., 1966.
Hall, Richard P., Protozoa: The Simplest of All Ani-
mals. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.,
1964.
Hayashi, Teru, "How Cells Move." Scientific Ameri-
can, September, 1961.
Langley, L. L., Cell Function. New York, Reinhold
Publishing Corp., 1968.
Mazia, Daniel, "How Cells Divide." Scientific Ameri-
can, September, 1961.
Mercer, E. H., Cells: Their Structure and Function.
New York, Doubleday & Co., 1962.
Otto, James H., and Towle, Albert, Modern Biol-
ogy. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.,
1969.

121
Paul, John, Cell Biology: A Current Summary, Stan-
ford, Calif., Stanford University Press, 1966.
Pfeiffer, John, and editors of Life, The Cell. New
York, Time, Inc., 1964.
Simpson, George G., and Beck, William S., Life: An
Introduction to Biology. New York, Harcourt, Brace
& World, Inc., 1965.
SwANSON, Carl P., The Cell. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.,
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.
Watson, James D., Molecular Biology of the Gene,
New York, W. A. Benjamin, Inc., 1965.
Wilson, G. B., Cell Division and the Mitotic Cycle.
New York, Reinhold Publishing Corp., 1966.

122
 Index

Acetylcholine, 100 Basal bodies, 27

Acquired immunity, 115 Bivalents, 79
Active immunity, M5 Blastomere, 86
Addison's disease, 105 Blastula, 86-87
Adenosine diphosphate (ADP), 33- Brain, 98
35, 38 Butschli, Otto, 15
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), 33-
35, 39-40, 50, 52, 62 Calcitonin, 102
Adrenal cortex, 105 Cancer, 117-18
Adrenal glands, 104, 105 Carbohydrates, 41
Adrenal medulla, 105 Carbon cycle, 31
Adrenalin, 105 Catabolism, 41
Adrenocorticotrophic hormone Catalase, 43
(ACTH), 105 Cells
Aerobic phase, of respiration, 37 behavior, controlling, 97-109
Agglutinins, 114 culturing, 18
Aging mechanism, 119 death 111-20
of,
Algae, 20 69-82
division,
Allergy, 116 and embryonic development, 86-
Amino acids, 11, 26, 44-49 87
and RNA, 49-52 and energy conversion, 31-40
Amoebas, 19-20, 22 first, 9-14

Anabolism, 41 fixating, 17
Androgen, 104 growth and differentiation, 90-95
Animal immunity, 115 and heredity, 53-67
Animals, and amino acids, 47 metabolism, 41-52
Antibodies, 114, 116 reproduction, 69-82
Antigens, 112-14 staining, 17-18
Antitoxins, 114 structure, 21-29
Aristotle, 9 theory, 14-16
Asexual reproduction, 82-83 varieties of, 19-20
Autonomic nervous system, 98 Centrioles, 27, 71
Autoradiography, 18 Centromere, 70-72, 77, 79
Autotrophic cells, 33 Centrosome, 71
Auxins, 106 Chemical bonds, and energy, 31-32
Axons, 100-1 Chemotropism, 106
Chiasmata, 78, 79
Bacillus, 112 Chlorophyll, 25, 33
Bacteria, 111-14 Chloroplasts, 25, 33
Bacteriophages, 112-13 Chromatids, 70-72, 77-79

123
Chromatin, 28
Chromosomes, 15, 28, 55,
and mitosis, 69-74
and sex determination, 80-83
and sexual reproduction, 74-80
Cilia, 23
Coacervates, 12-13
Coccus, 112
Codons, 49
Coenzymes, 44
Color blindness, 80
Conditioned reflexes, 99
Connecting neurons, 98
Coral, 20
Cortisone, 105
Crick, Francis, 58
Cristae, 25
Crossing-over, 64, 77-78, 83
Culturing, 18
Cytolysins, 114
Cytoplasm, 23-27
Cytoskeleton, 26
Death, 111-20
Dendrites, 100
Deoxyribonucleic acid
28, 52
and cell differentiation, 94-95
and heredity, 53-67
replication, 61-62
and RNA, 62-64
structure, 58-61
viruses, 112
Descartes, Rene, 10
Diabetes, 104
Dipeptide, 47
Divine creation, as origin of
Dominant genes, 74
Double helix structure,
Ectoderm, 87
Egg, 74, 86
Electrical impulses, 101
Electron microscope, 17
Elements, 32
Embryonic development, 86-87
Endocrine glands, 102
Endoderm, 87
Endoplasmic reticulum, 26
Energy conversion, 31-40
Enzymes, 42-44, 108
Epigenesis, 87-90
Epinephrine, 105
Estrogen, 104
Evolution of life, concept
Fats, 41
Feedback, 108
57 Fertilization, 86
Fibrous proteins, 45
Fixation, of cell, 17
Flageila, 23
Flemming, Walther, 15
Food, and energy, 32-33
Food additives, and mutations, 66
* Gametes, 74, 104
Gastrulation, *87
Genes, 15, 57, 108. See also Chro-
mosomes
and mutations, 64-67
Genetic code, 60
Geotropism, 106
Germ cells, 74
Globular proteins, 45
Glucagon, 104
Glucose, 35-37, 104
Glycolysis, 37
Golgi bodies, 26-27
Grana, 25
Griffith, Jack, 58
Growth and differentiation, 90-95
(DNA), 15,
Heart transplants, and antibodies,
116
Hemophilia, 65
Heredity, 53-67
Heterotrophic cells, 33
Heterozygous gene pairs, 77
Hodgkin's disease, 118
Homeostasis, 107-9
Homologous chromosomes, 77
Homozygous gene pairs, 77
life, 9 Hooke, Robert, 14
Hormones, 101-6
58-60 Hydrolysis, 47
Hypoglycemia, 104
Immunity, 114-15
Infection, 112, 114
Inhibitory impulses, 100-1
Insulin, 45, 104
Insecticides, and mutations, 66
Integration, 95
Interferon, 114
Intermedin, 105
Internal mutations, 66
Islands of Langerhans, 104
Johannsen, Wilhelm, 15
of, 13 Kinetic energy, 32
Krebs, Sir Hans Adolf, 38
Krebs cycle, 37-38
124
 Photons, 33
9-14
Life, origin of, Photosynthesis, 25, 31, 33-36
Life-span, 118-20 Phototropism, 106
LSD, and mutations, 66 Pinocytosis, 22-23
Lysosomes, 27 Pituitary gland, 102, 105
Plankton, 20
Meiosis, 83, 86 Plants. See also Photosynthesis;
and sexual reproduction, 74-79 Respiration
Mendel, Gregor, 15, 53-57, 74 and amino acids, 47
Mendel's law of independent assort- growth response in, 106
ment, 64 Plasma membrane, 21-23
Mesoderm, 87 Plastids, 26
Messenger RNA (mRNA), 50-52, Polymers, 45
63 Potential energy, 32
Metabolism, 41-52, 102 Precipitins, 114
Microscopes, 16-17 Preformation, 87-90
Microvilli, 22 Proteins, 26, 41-42, 57
Miller, Stanley Lloyd, 11 synthesis, 26, 44-49, 49-52
Mitochondria, 25-26, 37
Mitosis, 69-74, 83, 86 Recessive genes, 74
Morgan, Thomas Hunt, 15 Red blood cells, 21
Morphogenic movements, 87 Redi, Francesco, 10
Mosaic differentiation, 92-93 Regeneration, 69-70
Motor neurons, 98-100 Regulative differentiation, 92-93
Mutagens, 117 Replication, DNA, 61-62
Mutations, and evolution, 64-67, 83 Respiration, 31, 36-39
Mutogehesis, 117 Reverse transcription, 63
Myelin sheath, 101 Rhizopods, 55
Ribonucleic acid (RNA), 28
Nervous system, 97-101 and cell differentiation, 94-95
Neurons, 98-100 and DNA, 62-64
Newton, Isaac, 10 and protein synthesis, 49-52
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide Ribosomes, 26
phosphate (NADP), 35
Nuclear membrane, 28, 79 Schleiden, Matthias, 15
Nucleoli, 28, 79 Schneider, Anton, 15
Nucleus, 15, 27-28, 57 Schwann, Theodor, 15
Schwann's cells, 101
Opsonins, 114 Sensory neurons, 98-100
Organelles, 25 Sex determination, 80-83
Organic compounds, 11 Sex-linked characteristics, 80-82
Ovaries, 104 Sex organs, 102, 104
Oxytocin, 105 Sexual reproduction, 74-83
Sickle-cell anemia, 65
Pancreas, 102, 104 Size and shape, cell, 19
Parasympathetic nerves, 98 Sperm, 74, 86
Parathyroid gland, 102, 104 Spinal column, 98
Passive immunity, 115 Spirillum, 112
Pasteur, Louis, 10-11 Spontaneous generation, 9-11
Pathogenic bacteria, 112-13 Spontaneous mutations, 66
Pauling, Linus, 45 Staining, 17-18
Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich, 99 Steady state, 106-9
Peptide bond, 47 Stroma, 25
Peripheral nerves, 98 Sulfa drug family, 116
Permeability, 108 Sutton, Walter, 15
Phagocytes, 114 Swanson, Carl P., 28
Phagocytosis, 22-23 Sympathetic nerves, 98

125
Synapses, 100-1 Vaccines, 1 15
Synapsis, chromosome, 77 Vacuoles, 27
Vasopressin, 105
Template RNA, 49-50, 63 Virchow, Rudolf, 15
Testes, 104 Virus, 112, 114
Tetany, 104 and cancer, 1 17
Theory, cell, 14-16 Volvox, 20
Thyroid gland, 102, 106
Tools and techniques, 16-18 Watson, James, 58
Transfer RNA (tRNA), 49-51 Wilkins, Maurice, 58
TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone).
106 Zygote, 74

126
 The Author

Barbara Tufty is author of hundreds of scientific articles

and is presently employed as a science writer for Mosaic
magazine for the National Science Foundation. She re-
ceived her degree in botany from Duke University and has
studied at the Sorbonne as well. Ecology is one of her main
concerns, and she is a member of many conservation organ-
izations. Mrs. Tufty lives in Washington, D.C., with her
family. This is her third book.
n
 The Author

Barbara Tufty is author of hundreds of

scientific articles and is presently em-
ployed as a science writer for Mosaic
Magazine for the National Science Foun-
dation. She received her degree in botany
from Duke University and has studied at

the Sorbonne as well. Ecology is one of

her main concerns, and she is a member
of many conservation organizations. Mrs.
Tufty lives in Washington, D.C., with her
family. This is her third book.

7301

G. R PUTNAM'S SONS
Publishers Since 1838

200 Madison Avenue

New York, N.Y. 10016

L. u
Another first-rate science book from Putnam's,

THE DRIFTING CONTINENTS

by Alan H. Anderson, Jr.

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'Continental Drift.' Told in terms of the work and discov-
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development of the revolution which ultimately over-
threw the established ideas and rendered the textbooks
out of date. A fascinating story of the limitations and un-
certainties of science and scientists."

—Dr. Frederick J. Vine

School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia, England