Why are cells so small? – ‘The Why’

Why are cells so small?

Welcome to the newest edition of The Why.
Everywhere you look the media is pushing you telling you who to follow, what to watch and when to watch it.   You’re even sometimes told how to do it all.  Truth is, here at American Live Wire we do a bit of that too.  The big difference is we also tell you why.

You ask the questions.  We provide the answers.

“Why are cells so small?” you ask?

With two degrees and some additional work beyond that you’d think that this would be easy to answer.  In truth it is easy to answer.  What is interestingly weird is that yours truly has never thought to ask this question nor ever heard anyone else ask the question: Why are cells so small?

We’re using chromosomes to advertise this column because . . . well, sex cells.

As you may recall, everything on earth is made up of cells.  The make-up of the individual cells is what determines what kind of matter a person, place or thing is. Having reviewed that we are ready to address the question: Why are cells so small?

Whether it is Ask.com or an online science expert, most agree that cells are small because their volume and surface area are also small.  Another reason why they’re so small has to do with Fick’s Law of Diffusion.  Ask.com reports that since “oxygen and other substances must diffuse into the cell, if the distance they have to diffuse is too large, the cell cannot maintain.”  Therefore, the cells must be small in order to enable oxygen and other substances to easily travel to the different cells and thus maintain.

Why are cells so small?  If an organism like your body was named up of several very large cells it would be more difficult for specialized cells to be replaced without a significant disruption.  The folks at Brooklyn College provide a good example.  They pose this mental picture:

“Imagine what it would be like if each of your eyes was a single cell. When it came time for the eye cells to be replaced, you would be either blind or have an extra eye growing in your face until the changeover could take place.”  Luckily, a person has approximately 125 million cells in each eye so there is no disruption when some cells are replaced daily.

In a more generalized sense, cells are small because the human body requires so many in order to basically “make us who we are.”  Our cells each have specific purposes in order to keep us alive.  While there are one cell organisms we humans and other living creatures fall far from that category.

Why are cells so small?  There are several reasons but they all have one thing in common.  It’s really just a matter of logistics.

“Why are cells so small?”  Now you know.

(No clever comment but check out this cell music video anyway.)

You ask the questions.  We provide the answers.

American Live Wire . . . Listen and be heard.

(Image courtesy of UABSchoolOfMedicine)