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Concept
Cell theory
Summary
In biology, cell theory is a scientific theory first formulated in the mid-nineteenth century, that organisms are made up of cells, that they are the basic structural/organizational unit of all organisms, and that all cells come from pre-existing cells. Cells are the basic unit of structure in all organisms and also the basic unit of reproduction.
The three tenets of the cell theory are:
All organisms are composed of one or more cells.
The cell is the basic unit of structure and organization in organisms.
Cells arise from pre-existing cells.
The theory was once universally accepted, but now some biologists consider non-cellular entities such as viruses living organisms, and thus disagree with the first tenet. As of 2021: "expert opinion remains divided roughly a third each between yes, no and don’t know". As there is no universally accepted definition of life, discussion still continues.
With continual improvements made to microscopes over time, magnification technology became advanced enough to discover cells. This discovery is largely attributed to Robert Hooke, and began the scientific study of cells, known as cell biology. When observing a piece of cork under the scope, he was able to see pores. This was shocking at the time as it was believed no one else had seen these. To further support his theory, Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann both also studied cells of both animal and plants. What they discovered were significant differences between the two types of cells. This put forth the idea that cells were not only fundamental to plants, but animals as well.
Robert Hooke's microscope was a recreation of Anton van Leeuwenhoek's microscope in the 17th century, except his was 300x magnification. The discovery of the cell was made possible through the invention of the microscope. In the first century BC, Romans were able to make glass. They discovered that objects appeared to be larger under the glass. In Italy during the 12th century, Salvino D’Armate made a piece of glass fit over one eye, allowing for a magnification effect to that eye.
Official source
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