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is a cell dead if it has a nucleus
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:37 am
by nestle103
is a cell dead if it has a nucleus
how do you tell if a cell is dead or alive.
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:41 am
by nestle103
how do you tell if a cell is dead or alive. The cell that i am trying to see if it is alive or not is a wheat germ cell.
Re: how do you tell if a cell is dead or alive.
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:15 am
by trexzert
It is really hard to tell if a cell is dead or alive without high powered microscope. Now on your project, I don't know if extracting DNA from a cell will kill it but I do know that if DNA from the cell is damaged, the cell may or may not survive.
Re: is a cell dead if it has a nucleus
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:17 am
by trexzert
No, a cell is not dead if it has a nucleus. Many plant and animal cells must have a nucleus to function properly. Other cells like bacteria do not have a nucleus at all but can still survive.
Re: how do you tell if a cell is dead or alive.
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 9:32 am
by deleted-71703
Hi Nestle103,
Normally, when a cell dies, the outside morphology changes, in other words, the cell looks different. For example, if you are growing cells that attach to a plate, when they die they are not able to attach to the bottom of the plate anymore, and they will appear floating in the medium. I am not sure of what kind of cells you are studying; if you told us it would help as to suggest ways of distinguish between live/dead cells.
Carmen
Re: how do you tell if a cell is dead or alive.
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 3:33 pm
by donnahardy2
Hi Nestle103,
I think all of us are wondering what your project topic is. What kind of cells will you be working with? If you are studying animal cells, you might be able to use a vital stain such as methylene blue that will stain live cells. Here is a website that has information on vital stains that can be used with protozoa.
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... vital.html
Donna Hardy