Question

1.How do you think that the separation of the internal life of the first cell and the external environment accomplished?

2. Why was this separation important?

Answer 1

Cell is the fundamental unit of life. Every cell is composed of cytoplasm surrounded by a semi-permeable plasma membrane composed of phospholipids. The development of this plasma membrane separated the cell's internal environment from the external environment. In addition to cell membrane, some cells such as plant cells developed cell walls which further acted as a barrier of the external physical stresses such as pressure.

The separation of the internal environment from the outer environment is crucial for the survival of a cell. Every cell contains cytoplasm, a gel-like matrix in which the genome of the cell and other cellular organelles( if present) are kept together by the plasma membrane which also provided a definite size and shape to the cell. The outer environment is hazardous, therefore the separation of the internal is needed to protect the genome and other cellular organelles. The plasma membrane is semi-permeable in nature, thus it only allows the elements which are beneficial to the cell to enter into the cell, thus keeping the cells safe from other toxic elements.