1.2. Cell Theory Vs. Organismal Theory

Juxtaposed with the Cell Theory is an alternative school of thought known as the Organismal Theory that maintains that the entire organism is not merely a group of independent units but a living unit subdivided into cells, which are connected and coördinated into a congruent whole. Anton de Bary (1879) stated in support of the Organismal Theory, “It is the plant that forms cells, and not the cell that forms plants,” [1] and this concept is particularly pertinent to plants, whose cells do not undergo fission during cell division like animal cells do, but are divided into daughter cells by the deposition of a cell plate [Chapter 1: Section 5]. Moreover, upon cell division, the insertion of cell plate is often incomplete, and the daughter cells remain interconnected by cytoplasmic strands known as plasmodesmata [Chapter1: Section 7], which criss-cross the cell walls and unite the entire plant body into an interconnected whole. As such, plant biologists William J. Lucas and Jung- Youn Lee aptly referred to the plant body as a “supracellular network [2].” Wilhelm Hofmeister was an early proponent of the Organismal Theory, and suggested that the cells in multicellular organisms are essentially subdivisions of the organismal whole, and are only growth markers and not necessarily the causative agents of growth itself [3]. On the contrary, Rudolf Virchow famously said in support of Cell Theory, "Omnis cellula-e-cellula," [4] which literally translates to "All cells come from cells." These two diametrically opposite theories provide alternative lenses through which to view the living world and the structural and functional complexity that underlies it.

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1. Bary, Anton. Die Mycetozoen (Schleimpilze). 1864.

2. Lucas, William J., and Jung-Youn Lee. "Plasmodesmata as a supracellular control network in plants." Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 5.9 (2004): 712-726.

3.  Hofmeister, W. "Die Lehre von der Pflanzenzelle: Handbuch der Pflanzenphysiologie." (1867).

4. Virchow, Rudolf. "Cellular Pathology as based upon physiological and pathological histology. Twenty lectures delivered in1858." 1860.