Cytology, currently designated Cell biology, is the science that studies the structure, composition and physiology of cells, through cell membranes, cytoskeleton, cytoplasmic organelles and nuclear components.
The word "cytology" comes from the Greek, where kytos = cell and logos = study.
Cytology is one of the branches of the natural sciences and its history is closely related to the advent of the microscope.
The name cell it was used for the first time in 1665, by the English scientist Robert Hooke in 1665, when he made the first observation of cells in cork fragments.
Cytology (Cell Biology) has progressed substantially in the last century thanks to the increase in the resolution power of analysis instruments, development of new technologies and the convergence of cytology with Genetics (Citogenetics), Physiology (Cell Physiology), Biochemistry (Cytochemistry), Immunology (Immunocytochemistry), among others Sciences.
Virtually all functional and physicochemical transformations of the organism take place in the
molecular architecture of the cell, therefore, knowledge of its submicroscopic or ultrastructural organization is of fundamental interest.The discovery of amino acid sequences, structures and three-dimensional arrangement of the molecule, studies on enzymes, the molecular model of DNA, made Cytology one of the most important branches of biological sciences, making it very important for Genetics, Biochemistry and Pathology.
Currently, it can be said that cytology studies cellular problems at all their levels, starting with the molecular organization.
Cell Theory
Theodor Schwann, in 1839, concluded that all living beings are formed from cells and established, together with the botanist Schleiden, the Theory Cell, which states that all living beings, animals, plants or protozoa are constituted, without exception, by cells and products cell phones. The theory also established that each cell comes from another cell.