Cells
By Ally Gonzalez
What is a cell?
A cell is the basic unit of life. Examples of a cell are trees in a forest, worms in soil, etc. Cells are considered the basic units of life because they come in discrete and easily recognizable packages. The reason for this is because all cells are have a surrounding structure called a cell membrane.
What's a prokaryote?
A prokaryote is a cell with no nucleus. Their DNA just floats around the cell it's clumped up, but not in the nucleus. Most prokaryotes are just bacteria. A Eukaryote are cells with a nucleus and are usually the "classic cell." Eukaryotes can do pretty much anything. They are the cells that have helped organisms advance to new levels of specialization.
How do eukaryotes and prokaryotes reproduce?
Prokaryote reproduction
Prokaryotic cells reproduce by a process called binary fission. The DNA in these cells are contained in a single circular chromosome called a plasmid within the cytoplasm.
Eukaryote Reproduction
Eukaryotes reproduce by a cell cycle with two major phases.
The two phases are interphase and cell division. During the interphase, the cell takes in nutrients grows and duplicates its cell chromosomes. During the cell division phase the nucleus divides in a process called mitosis and the divided nuclei are established in separate cells in a process called cytokinesis.