Techniques Used to Study Cells

Background

(Includes information extracted from: Campbell Biology 9th Edition Textbook)

How can cell biologists investigate the inner workings of a cell, usually too small to be seen by the unaided eye? The two more common techniques used in the study of cells are Microscopy and Cell Fractionation.

Microscopy

A useful technique for studying cell structure and function is cell fractionation, which takes cells apart and separates major organelles and other subcellular structures from one another.

The instrument used is the centrifuge, which spins test tubes holding mixtures of disrupted cells at a series of increasing speeds. At each speed, the resulting force causes a fraction of the cell components to settle to the bottom of the tube, forming a pellet. At lower speeds, the pellet consists of larger components, and higher speeds yield a pellet with smaller components.

Task

Your task is to better understand the process of Cell Fractionation by accessing the resource below:

Process of Cell Fractionation: Animation showing the processes of homogenisation and differential centrifugation to separate organelles of differing sizes

Once you have gone through the resources in this page, click on Structure and Function of Cell Organelles found on the navigation sidebar to move onto the next segment.