The Fundamental Unit of Life

The Fundamental Unit of Life

While examining a thin slice of cork, Robert Hooke saw that the cork resembled the structure of a honeycomb consisting of many little compartments. Cork is a substance that comes from the bark of a tree. This was in the year 1665 when Hooke made this chance observation through a self-designed microscope. Robert Hooke called these boxes cells. Cell is a Latin word for ‘a little room’.

This was the very first time that someone had observed that living things appear to consist of separate units. The use of the word ‘cell’ to describe these units is being used till this day in biology.

Cells of an onion peels 

➤ The cells of the onion peel will all look the same, regardless of the size of the onion they came from.

➤ These small structures that we see are the basic building units of the onion bulb. These structures are called cells. Not only onions, but all organisms that we observe around are made up of cells.

References

1. NCERT Science Class IX