Cytology as a science.

Cytology means "the study of cells". Cytology is that branch of life science, which deals with the study of cells in terms of structure, function and chemistry. Based on usage it can refer to cell biology.

Cell biology is a scientific discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level. Cell biology research encompasses both the great diversity of single-celled organisms like bacteria, as well as the many specialized cells in multicellular organisms such as humans.

The cell is the functional basic unit of life discovered by Robert Hooke. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. Some organisms, such as most bacteria, are unicellular (consist of a single cell). Other organisms, such as humans, are multicellular. Humans have about 100 trillion cells; a typical cell size is 10 micrometersand a typical cell mass is 1 nanogram. The largest known cells are unfertilized ostrichegg cells, which weigh 3.3 pounds.

The cell theory, first developed in 1839 by Matthias JakobSchleiden and Theodor Schwann, states that all organisms are composed of one or more cells, that all cells come from preexisting cells, and that all cells contain the hereditary information necessary for regulating cell functions and for transmitting information to the next generation of cells.

The word cell comes from the Latin cellula, meaning, a small room. Robert Hooke coined the descriptive term for the smallest living biological structure in a book he published in 1665 when he compared the cork cells he saw through his microscope to the small rooms monks lived in.

The cell consists of different proteins. Each type of protein is usually sent to a particular part of the cell. Most proteins are synthesized by ribosomes in the rough endoplasmic reticulum. This process is known as protein biosynthesis.

Appreciating the similarities and differences between cell types is particularly important to cell and molecular biology as well as to biomedical fields such as cancer research and developmental biology. Therefore, research in cell biology is closely related to genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology and developmental biology.