GENERAL IDEA

Here we outline some of the key concepts and terminology in cell and molecular biology to orientate readers from a more physical science background.

Introduction

The classical biological view is that living organims are typically structured in a hierarchical manner in terms of physiological function relating to length scale. For example, a complex multi-cellular organism is composed of smaller units called organs which appear to be dedicated primarily to a subset of biological processes, and these may be further deconstructed into different tissues, and these tissues may be further sub-divided into smaller structural features consisting ultimately of individual cells, or some structural matrix secreted by cells. Single cells, whether part of a multi-cellular organism as in the human body or simply the organism itself as for unicellular life forms such as bacteria, can in turn be broken up conceptually into smaller subunits. In essence these are structural sub-cellular features which appear to work together to perform a narrow subset of biological functions, for example cell organelles such as the nucleus in certain cell types. Ultimately, smaller sub-cellular feautures can be perceived as collections of single biological molecules.