Cell Biology

Active transport is the movement of a substance across a cell membrane against its concentration gradient, powered by energy, usually from ATP.

Apoptosis is programmed cell death, a controlled process in which a cell dismantles itself in an orderly way without harming its neighbors.

A cell is the smallest unit that can carry out all the processes of life, enclosed by a membrane and holding its own genetic material.

The cell cycle is the ordered series of growth, DNA copying and division stages that a cell passes through to produce two daughter cells.

The cell membrane is the thin, flexible boundary of lipids and proteins that encloses every cell and controls what enters and leaves it.

A cell wall is a rigid layer outside the plasma membrane of plant, fungal, algal and most bacterial cells that gives shape and stops them bursting.

The parts of a plant cell and what each does: the cell wall, chloroplasts, the central vacuole, the nucleus, the ER and more.

The parts of an animal cell and what each does: the nucleus, the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, lysosomes and more.

The stages of mitosis, from prophase to telophase and cytokinesis: how one cell's copied chromosomes are shared equally between two new cells.

The parts of a neuron and what they do: dendrites, cell body, axon hillock, axon, myelin sheath, nodes of Ranvier, axon terminals and the synapse.

How a chloroplast turns light, water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen: the light-dependent reactions and the Calvin cycle.

How a cell makes a protein: a gene is transcribed into mRNA in the nucleus, processed and exported, then translated by a ribosome.

The most abundant protein in mammals: three chains wound into a rope-like triple helix, with glycine at every third position.

The jellyfish protein that glows green: a barrel of eleven beta strands around a chromophore it makes from three of its own amino acids.

The first step in packing DNA into chromosomes: 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped almost twice round a core of eight histone proteins.

The cell's energy currency: adenine and a ribose sugar carrying a chain of three phosphates; splitting off the last one with water releases energy.

Researches how living things work, from cells and organs to whole species, and turns findings into data, papers and practical uses.

Teaches biology, chemistry and physics to secondary school pupils, planning lessons, running practicals and tracking each pupil's progress.

Teaches life science or medical subjects to university students and often carries out research alongside the teaching.

Investigates the causes of human disease and looks for better ways to diagnose, treat and prevent it, through lab and clinical research.

Turns tissue from biopsies and operations into thin, stained slides that pathologists examine under the microscope to make a diagnosis.

Studies the chemistry of life: the proteins, fats, sugars and nucleic acids in cells and the reactions that keep them working.

Cells per mL, viability with trypan blue, total cells and the volume to seed, from a hemocytometer count.

How many grams to weigh for a solution, or what concentration or volume you made, from the formula weight.

How much stock to dilute, or the final concentration or volume, with C₁V₁ = C₂V₂.