Assignment One: Cells

Question 1: Analogy

In outer space, besides the Sun and the nine planets, there is a massive glowing planet called Siegthegreat. And in the planet, there's a tiny company called the Ween and Meanies Corporation. The company mainly is to produce Ween and Meanies, a toy adapted from the cartoon: The wins of Ween and Meanies, and to export them to sell.

Of course, in the company, the Director's Board call all the shots in the making of the Ween and Meanies. And one particular director, called the Super Kiam, is in charge of training designers. Under the surveillance of Super Kiam, the designers are highly skilled and designed Ween and Meanies in the Floating Room, which floats everywhere in the company. The designs is then sent to the M.E. Room, where Weens and Meanies is installed with different abilities, then packaged for exporting. These are powered by the solar panels in the company. Sometimes, the Ween and Meanies made do not turn out right, and they are sent to the rubbish chute, either to be furnace or recycled.

In order to ensure that the quality of the Ween and Meanies sent out of the company is in perfect quality so as to protect te company's reputation, and also that non-authorised personnel do not enter the company, the company is enclosed by high technology mechanical gates.

Director's Board: Nucleus
Super Kiam: Nucleolus
Designers: Ribosomes
Floating Room: Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum
M. E. Room: Golgi Apparatus
Solar Panels: Mitochondria
Rubbish Chute: Lysosomes
High technology mechanical gates: Plasma Membrane

Question 2A

If there was one function I would like the cell to have,I would like the cell to be able to resist and "exhaust" viruses or bacteria naturally and maintain and repair worn out organelles.

For bacteria or viruese, it would go like this:

The lysosome is an organelle which function is to engulfed virus or bacteria. During this process, it would remember the structure, colour, or any special features of the virus or bacteria. It would also remeber the components which the virus or bacteria had broken down into. It then would sent this information to the nucleus, which would scan through the information and come up with a resistance to these virus or bacteria. The nucleus would also sent the information to the other parts of the cell, priortising the cell memebrane. The cell membrane will stop these virus or bacteria in entering the cell again. However, if these virus or bacteria manage to get into the cell, any parts of the cell that detected the presence of these virus or bacteria would inform the nucleus, which will in turn instruct the cytoplasm to "push" the virus or bacteria out of the cell and the cell membrane to let the virus or bacteria out of the cell.

And for worn out organelles, it would go like this:

It is pretty much the same for worn out organelles in lysosomes, but instead of just only sending the component's information to the nucleus, it would also send a sample to it. The nucleus would then analyse the sample and record which component is damaged which cause the organelle to be worn out. It would then further analyse whether making new organelles is moe energy consuming or whether replacing these components is more energy consuming. If replacing these components is a better way, it would then instruct the cells to make more of these components or take these components from outside the cell.

For example, the lysosome break down mitochondrion and sent a sample of the components to the nucleus. Take mitochondrion to be make up of carbon and oxygen, and there was not enough carbon in mitochondrion to cause it to be worn out. The nucleus would then decide that whether making another brand new mitochondrion is more "valuable" or just bringing more carbon atoms is better. If the nucleus decide that just remaking new mitochonchrion is better, it would not bring in carbon atoms then.