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Cell Organelles

Title text: It's believed that Golgi was originally an independent organism who was eventually absorbed into our cells, where he began work on his Apparatus.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a GOLGI ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.

This comic shows a biological cell diagram with a mix of real and fictional organelles, giving both accurate cell biology terms and humorous ones. Actual cell components include the nucleus, mitochondria, and Golgi apparatus, while unrelated concepts come from geology, engineering, anitvirus software, and even Star Wars. Labels like "evil endoplasmic reticulum" and "sticky endoplasmic reticulum" are variations of real cellular organelles. Other labels like "pith," "mantle," and "Vitreous humor," are borrowed from other types of circular cross-sectional diagrams (e.g., of fruit, planets, and eyeballs).

The title text is a fictional backstory to the Golgi apparatus, an essential cell organelle involved in processing and packaging proteins. It suggests that Camillo Golgi, the scientist who discovered the Golgi apparatus, was originally an independent organism that was supposedly absorbed into our cells, where it then started working on what is now known as the Golgi apparatus. The joke is a satirical take on endosymbiotic theory, which posits that certain organelles within eukaryotic cells, like mitochondria and chloroplasts, originated from independent symbiotic prokaryotic organisms that were absorbed by a host germ cell. Golgi is drawn in the comic as a cute little alien.

Label	Meaning	Real?	Cell organelle?	Explanation
Smooth endoplasmic reticulum	A network of tubular membranes within the cytoplasm of the cell, involved in the transport of materials.	Yes	Yes	A standard term for the smooth (i.e., not ribosome-covered) portion of the endoplasmic reticulum.
Lithosphere	The rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.	Yes	No	Term from geology; part of the Earth's crust. Labeled cross-sectional diagrams of cells and of the layers of the Earth are commonly found in science textbooks.
O-ring	A mechanical gasket in the shape of a torus; used to seal connections.	Yes	No	Engineering term. Both the o-ring and pith are drawn connected to the inner cell membrane. Made famous in pop culture for being the root cause of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
Pith	The central tissue in plants, used for nutrient transport.	Yes	No	Botanical term. Most people think of pith as the layer of soft tissue between the skin and the flesh of citrus fruit, which explains its position in the diagram. Both the pith and o-ring are drawn connected to the inner cell membrane.
Nucleus	The central and most important part of an object, forming the basis for its activity and growth.	Yes	Yes	The cell nucleus is an actual cell organelle which houses DNA.
Nucleolus	A small dense spherical structure in the nucleus of a cell during interphase.	Yes	Yes	Actual cell organelle, involved in ribosome production.
Nucleoloulous	Not a real term.	No	No	A humorous continuation of the terms "nucleus" and "nucleolus."
Nucleons	Protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.	Yes	No	While cells contain nucleons, the depicted circles are far larger than actual nucleons.
Drain plug	A stopper for a drain.	Yes	No	A plumbing term, which could refer to a porosome. Even small, temporary damage to the integrity of the cell membrane puts the cell at immediate and great risk of death.
Evil endoplasmic reticulum	Not a real term.	No	No	The rough endoplasmic reticulum is covered in ribosomes; the "evil" endoplasmic reticulum in the comic is covered in twice as many, and is thus twice as rough, making it evil.
Hypoallergenic filling	Materials that cause relatively fewer allergic reactions.	Yes	Technically not incorrect	Consumer product term, used e.g. for pillows and mattresses. If the cytoplasm doesn't cause allergic reactions within the cell, it is hypoallergenic.
Weak spot	A vulnerable point.	Yes	Conceivably	Cell membrane surfaces do indeed vary in strength, often due to the presence of organelles such as ion channel pores or porosomes, both of which can be leveraged by viruses to enter cells.
Mitochondria	Organelles that generate energy for the cell.	Yes	Yes	Actual cell organelles. Mitochondria are widely known as the "powerhouse of the cell," a phrase originally coined in 1957 by biologist Philip Siekevitz[1] which came to prominence online in the mid-2010s.[actual citation needed]
Midichlorians	Fictional microorganisms in the Star Wars universe, which confer Force sensitivity and thereby Jedi associated powers.	No	Fictional	It's unclear whether George Lucas intended for "midi-chlorians" to be endosymbiotic organelles or internal symbionts.
Chloroplasts if you're lucky	Organelles in plant cells responsible for photosynthesis.	Yes	Yes, but in plants and plantlike organisms	Actual cell organelles, found in plant cells and those of several different lineages of non-plant microorganisms and seaweeds. The phrase "if you're lucky" alludes to the good fortune that an organism, be it plant, animal, or microbe, gains by being able to photosynthesize, getting energy from sunlight, rather than have to run around all the time chasing energy. This benefit makes chloroplasts worth stealing. Experiments have been conducted to transplant components of chloroplasts into mammal cells to slow disease.
Human skin	The outer covering of the human body.	Yes	No	Skin is a tissue (multicellular structure). The idea that a complex tissue can be wrapped around a single cell, as if it were a cell wall, or outer cell membrane, or extracellular matrix, is patently, and humorously, absurd. This may be referencing the common factoid that house dust is mostly human skin, implying that the cell is covered in a layer of dust.
Carbonation	Carbon dioxide dissolved in a liquid.	Yes	No	Carbonation causes soda pop and similar liquids to bubble, fizz, foam, and effervesce. The little dots depicted in the comic look like carbonation bubbles.
Golgi	Camillo Golgi (1843–1926) was an Italian biologist and pathologist who discovered the Golgi apparatus; known also for his works on the central nervous system.	Yes	No	The real Golgi was not and is not a tiny alien being who merged with our cells, as the comic and title text imply.[citation needed]
Golgi apparatus	A complex of vesicles and folded membranes involved in secretion and intracellular transport.	Yes	Yes	Actual cell organelle, which takes polypeptide chains from the rough endoplasmic reticulum via transport vesicles and processes them into their protein structure before sending them (again via vesicles) to their destination such as an organelle or outside of the cell.
Norton AntiVirus	A software product designed to protect computers from malware.	Yes	No	Viruses do attempt to insert themselves into cells, and many cell types do have antiviral mechanisms (notably the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) DNA sequences in prokaryotes, which resist viral (bacteriophage) infection - however, the cell shown is not prokaryotic, since it contains a nucleus). A system designed to protect against computer viruses is unlikely to be helpful, though, since biological viruses are completely different, and cells have not been architected to support such software.
Sticky endoplasmic reticulum	Not a real term, although parts of the reticula have sticky pockets.[2]	No	No	Another humorous twist on the actual types of endoplasmic reticula.
Pleiades	A cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus.	Yes	No	Even a single star is far too big to fit in a cell[citation needed]. The labeled cluster in the comic looks like the actual constellation, as if this were a depiction of the night sky.
Natural flavor	Flavoring derived from natural sources.	Yes	Conceivably	A common ingredient on food labels (and sometimes cosmetics, etc.), usually meaning any substance to add flavor, aroma, or both, other than synthetic chemicals which are referred to as artificial flavors.
Cellophane	A thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose.	Yes	No	A type of packaging material. A cell wall is indeed made of cellulose, though not in the form of cellophane. Also, this drawing looks more like an animal cell, which unlike plants and fungi, do not usually have a cell wall.
Rough endoplasmic reticulum	Endoplasmic reticulum with ribosomes attached, involved in protein synthesis.	Yes	Yes	Actual cell organelle. "Rough" refers to the presence of ribosomes covering its membrane, which translate messenger RNA into polypeptide chains. Normally the endoplasmic reticulum would wrap around the cell nucleus.
Ventricle	A chamber of the heart that pumps blood out.	Yes	No	Ventricles are actually part of the body, and they are composed of many cells. Possibly a pun on vesicle (or vacuole), a small membrane-enclosed vessel, such as the transport vesicles that carry polypeptides from the rough endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus for processing.
Mantle	The layer of the earth between the crust and the core.	Yes	No	Misplaced geological term with many other meanings. Labeled cross-sectional diagrams of the layers of the Earth are commonly found in science textbooks.
Slime	A moist, soft, and slippery substance, or a brand name for a goopy substance sold as a toy.	Yes	No	Could refer to the slimy texture and appearance of cytoplasm, but not specific to cells. Slime was a frequent appearance on the Nickelodeon TV kids channel during Randall's youth in the 90s.[actual citation needed]
Vitreous humour	The clear gel that fills the space between the lens and the retina in the eyeball.	Yes	No	The vitreous humour is in the eyes' extracellular matrix, not inside cells. Labeled cross-sectional diagrams of eyes are also commonly found in science textbooks.
Seeds	Plant embryos used for reproduction.	Yes	No	Seeds are multicellular, and sometimes contain small proportions of non-cellular tissue. Cells are found in seeds, not the other way around. Seeds would be labeled on a cross-sectional diagram of a fruit, not a cell.

Transcript

This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.

Cell Organelles

[A cell is shown with the following structures and areas labeled, counter-clockwise from upper left:]

• Smooth endoplasmic reticulum
• Lithosphere
• O-Ring
• Pith
• Nucleus
• Nucleolus
• Nucleoloulous
• Nucleons
• Drain plug
• Evil endoplasmic reticulum
• Hypoallergenic filling
• Weak spot
• Mitochondria
• Midichlorians
• Chloroplasts if you're lucky
• Human skin
• Carbonation
• Golgi
• Golgi apparatus
• Norton AntiVirus
• Sticky endoplasmic reticulum
• Pleiades
• Natural flavor
• Cellophane
• Rough endoplasmic reticulum

[These labels are inside the cell:]

• Ventricle
• Mantle
• Slime
• Vitreous humour
• Seeds

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