Cells and how to run them
All life is made of cells, and cells depend on membranes
THE CHEMICAL reactions on which life depends need a place to happen. That place is the cell. All the things which biology recognises as indisputably alive are either cells or conglomerations of cells (viruses fall into disputable territory). Since the middle of the 19th century the cell has been seen as the basic unit of life.
This article appeared in the Schools brief section of the print edition under the headline “Layers of power”
From the August 5th 2021 edition
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