Cell Specialization

Epithelial Cells

Epithelial Cells line the cavities of the body and cover the body. Epithelial cells come in a variety of shapes, including squamous epithelial, cuboidal epithelial, and culumnar epithelial. In addition to these shapes, epithelial cells can be described as being simple or stratified. Simple contains one layer while stratified contains multiple. (EC) Our skin is made up of epithelial cells.

Here are the different types of epithelial cells.



Below is the structure of an epithelial cell.  It differs from eukaryotic cells because it only contains a cell membrane, cell interior, and nucleus that a eukaryotic cell has. Epithelial cells have gap junctions, but eukaryotic cells don't.




Epithelial Cells are very complex cells and many functions that help the body function properly. For example, they help transport nutrients from one place in the body to the other. They also help guard against microbes. They are found in the lungs, skin, airway, and digestive tract. They also secrete the enzymes in the stomach. Moreover, all the functions of epithelial cells are protection, absorption, secretion, transportation, and filtration. (ET) Epithelial cells are classified as epithelial tissues. The cells functions depend on where they are found in the body. According to AboutHealth , "epithelial cells represent our first line of defense against pathogens that can enter out bodies through our airways, digestive tracts, and bloodstreams."

Sweetness Lab

In this lab, my teammates and I tasted the various types of carbohydrates: sucrose, glucose, fructose, galactose, maltose, lactose, starch, and cellulose. The relationship between taste and structure is that as the number of rings increases, the amount of sweetness in the carbohydrate decreases. I can relate some of these sugars to the foods I have eaten. For example, cellulose is in plants and we eat vegetables. It makes sense that cellulose is not sweet because vegetables, which contain cellulose, are not sweet. On the other hand, Fructose is very sweet. We can relate fructose to fruits because fruits contain fructose. Fruits are sweet and therefore, fructose is also sweet. Humans taste sweetness differently and therefore rank the various carbohydrates differently. Taste buds make up the papillae. According to Kids Health, "Taste buds are sensory organs that are found in your tongue and allow you to experience tastes that are sweet, salty, sour, and bitter." (Kids Health) People taste sweetness because when you chew food, chemicals are released that allow the taste buds to gain flavor and taste for the foods you eat. Different tasters rank the sweetness of the same samples differently because everyone has different tastes. According to ILoveBacteria, everyone has four taste buds which are sour, salty, bitter, and sweet. People who have more taste buds generally "are more sensitive to strong flavors" (ILB); they are called super tasters. In this lab, students ranked the different carbohydrates differently because of the degree of sweetness different people can taste and because everyone has different tastes.

This is a picture of the different carbohydrates we used during the lab. Each table group got one of each sugars and we were able to taste all of  them.