Compare a cell to what?

Question

Hello! Does anyone have any ideas as to what I could compare a cell to? For example, I could compare a cell to a computer--
the mitochondria is the power supply, and the nucleus would be the motherboard.

Answer 1

Look at this graphic for some ideas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organelle

Each organelle could be part of an internal combustion engine. Filters to clean things like oil out, the cell wall would be the engine block. Mitochondria could be power plants or pistons that create the power. Inside of a mitochondria a reaction takes place, inside of a piston a spark explodes the gas vapor inside of it and that is a chemical reaction that produces power.

The vacuole could be your car battery storing power to start the engine. The nucleus will be the computer or even the driver that controls the engine. endoplasmic reticulum could be the gas line and the hoses. Melanosome would create the color of the car; the paint job. The drive train could be considered to be myofibril which are muscle fibers in muscle cells. A lysosome could be the gas tanks storing proteins and digestive enzymes. The physical struts and structure of the car could be compared to the centriole

The nucleus could be a CPU in a computer, the vacuole could be a battery, or another power source. RNA would be a method of storing data as would DNA, data needed to operate the computer. endoplasmic reticulum could be the cables. Melanosome could be seen as the monitor, since it carries the colors and is the visual representation of the outside of the cell. If you connect a robot to your computer then you will have given it myofibril to move things. The centirole could be computer case.

A vesicle is a single celled membrane storage compartment that could hold anything or be involved or compared to anything.

If you read the article I cited then you will have links that describe each organelle of the cell which can be used to list the organelles that you want to compare. Since the organelles are the basic units of a cell.

Answer 2

You could use that as a relatively simple comparison, provided you addressed more than those two organelles.

There are also limits to the comparison.

Can a computer divide and thus replicate itself? Can it defend itself against opportunistic invaders (with proper firewalls and anti-virus software programs - it can at least to some degree.)

The computer could replicate files, but not it's whole self as a cell can.

But the more you know about a computer, the more you could expand on the analogy.

Answer 3

I've always sort of visualized a cell as a city, with the nucleus being like...the mayor's office, the mitochondria being a power plant, roads, trains, and subways being the cytoskeletal filaments, the lysosome being the recycling plant, etc, etc... It's dorky, but fun.

Answer 4

Compare it to a woman's handbag. There is a lot of mysterious stuff going on in there.