Alpha Helix - DNA forms a specific formation called a alpha helix.

Amino Acid - The basic subunit of proteins.

Atom - One unit of a given element.

Carbohydrate -

Carbon - One of the common elements found in organic matter and living things.

Cell Wall - found in prokaryotic plants and it provides structural support and protection.

Chloroplasts - convert light/food into usable energy. (ATP production)

Cholesterol - Found in cell membranes, affects the rigidity of the membrane. Also a basic compound used to form man hormones.

Chromatin -

Chromosome - A group of genes/DNA that are contiguous, a functional unit. Humans have 23 pairs chromosomes.

Cilia - Hair-like structures.

Cisternae - The flatten sacs of the Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum.

Crossover - Genetics term for chromosomes literally crossing over DNA from one chromosome to another.

Cyanophytes - One type of prokaryote (cell without a nucleus).

Cytoplasm -

Cytoskeleton - Microtubules, actin and intermediate filaments. This produces the support structure/shape of cells. Of course plant cells have a much more rigid shape due to the cell wall.

Cytosol - The 'fluid' portion of the cell, it is made up of water and many free proteins and other elements - all except the organelles.

DNA - Deoxyribonucleic Acid, made up of 4 nucleotides: Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, and Cytosine (A,G,T,C).

Element - Element is one atom of a particular substance found on the periodic table. (Things such as Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, etc.)

Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) - Important for protein synthesis. It is a transport network for molecules destined for specific modifications and locations. There are two types: Rough ER - has ribosomes, and tends to be more in 'sheets'. Smooth ER - Does not have ribosomes and tends to be more of a tubular network.

Eukaryote - A Cell with a nucleus.

Genetic Material -

Globular Protein -

Glycolipids -

Glycoprotiens -

Golgi Apparatus - important for glycosylation, secretion.

Hydrogen - A common element in organic and living organisms.

Hydrophilic - 'likes water' (hydro = water; philic = like). Meaning that a hydrophilic molecule or portion would be attracted to water. Much like the opposite poles of a magnet pulling each other together.

Hydrophobic - 'fears water' (hydro = water; phobic = fear). Meaning that a hydrophobic molecule or portion would be repulsed/push-away a water molecule. This would be like trying to put together the same pole of two magnets. Examples: oils, fatty acids (i.e. the 'tails' of phospholipids), cholesterol.

Lysosomes - Digestive sacks - the main point of digestion, these are only found in animal cells.

Meiosis - is a type of cell division. See section on meiosis. This occurs for formation of egg/sperm cells, which in the end have 1/2 the normal number of chromosomes, only 1 copy of each chromosome.

Micrometer - A unit of measure in the metric system. 10^-6 meters.

Microtubules - made from tubulin, and make up centrioles,cilia,etc.

Millimeter - A unit of measure in the metric system. 10^-3 meters.

Mitochondria - convert foods into usable energy. (ATP production) A mitochondrion does this through aerobic respiration. They have 2 membranes, the inner membranes shapes differ between different types of cells, but they form projections called cristae. The mitochondrion is about the size of a bacteria, and it carries its own genetic material and ribosomes.

Mitosis - The cell division, that is found in most non-reproductive cells.

Nanometer - A unit of measure in the metric system. 10^-9 meters.

Nitrogen - A common element in organic and living organisms.

Nucleic Acid - Basic Building block for DNA.

Nucleolus - Or densely packed portion of the Nucleus.

Nucleus (only in eukaryotes) - where genetic material (DNA) is located, RNA is transcribed.

Organelles - (which also have membranes) in 'higher' eukaryote organisms:

Oxygen - A common element in organic and living organisms.

Peptidoglycan - This is the main component of prokaryotic cell walls, it is made from a large protein polymer and sugar.

Peroxisomes - Use oxygen to carry out catabolic reactions, in both plant and animals.

Phospholipid - See the section of the course on Cell Membranes and specifically phospholipids.

Phosphorus - A common element in organic and living organisms.

Plasma membrane - The surface around the cell made up of phospholipids, proteins, cholesterol, etc.. See the section on the Cell Membrane.

Prokaryote - Cells without a nucleus.

Protoplasm -

Pseudopod - literally means 'False foot'

RNA - Ribonucleic Acid

RNApolymerase -

Recombination -

Ribosomes - half are on the Endoplasmic Reticulum, the other half are 'free' in the cytosol, this is where the RNA goes for translation into proteins.

Sulphur - A common element in organic and living organisms.

tRNA - Transfer RNA, cool 3D structure. It works with the ribosome and mRNA to form proteins (called translation). It has a 'anti-codon' which will match codons of the mRNA, and also has a amino-acid. The tRNA is a key to the having the Amino-acid match a specific codon on the mRNA, See the Codon Table to see how these are matched in general. Please NOTE: There are differences in how the matches take place in mitochondria and bacteria.