“the cell is really the ultimate morphological element in which there is any manifestation of life.”

Rudoph Virchow Cellular Pathology

Introduction

The cell is a small membrane bound structure that contains organelles and chemicals embedded in an aqueous solution with an extraordinary ability to duplicate itself  which allows it to grow.

It is the smallest living structure in biology and is the fundamental unit of life.

Structures or biological units have no purpose if they are not intimately related to function.  Structure gives rise to function and function in turn gives rise to structure.  They go hand in hand – the one without the other is incomplete and ineffective.