We’ve talked about all sorts of living things. Bugs, for instance. And plants… elephants… the list goes on. But what we haven’t discussed is the thing that all of those animals are made of: cells! What are they? Why are they? Answers to half those questions await you!

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[Trivia Question]

B. natans number of genes

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24502779/

https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project/Completion-FAQ

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6085824/

[Fact Off]

Streptococcus disguises itself as red blood cells

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31801066/

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/886535

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/harmful-bacteria-masquerade-red-blood-cells-evade-immune-system-180973678/

Ciliate nuclei + genetics (O. trifallax/S. histriomuscorum)

https://www.wired.com/2014/09/oxytricha-encrypted-genome/

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=427777

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(14)00984-2

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001473

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2647009/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3558436/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Cell movement & motor proteins

https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/microtubules-and-filaments-14052932/

https://www.pnas.org/content/108/51/20275

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4812444/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1893118/

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/comments/S0960-9822(98)70264-7

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26867/

[Butt One More Thing]

Buttock cells

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2787452/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12308-013-0175-y

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6888610/