1. Cellular Foundations

• Cells Are the Structural and Functional Units of All Living Organisms

• Cellular Dimensions Are Limited by Diffusion

• Organisms Belong to Three Distinct Domains of Life

• Organisms Differ Widely in Their Sources of Energy and Biosynthetic Precursors

• Bacterial and Archaeal Cells Share Common Features but Differ in Important Ways

• Eukaryotic Cells Have a Variety of Membranous Organelles, Which Can Be Isolated for Study

• The Cytoplasm Is Organized by the Cytoskeleton and Is Highly Dynamic

• Cells Build Supramolecular Structures

• In Vitro Studies May Overlook Important Interactions among Molecules