• Question: what is the function of the nucleus?

    Asked by to Anna, Elaine, Fiona, Kevin, Darren on 25 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Zhiming Darren Tan

      Zhiming Darren Tan answered on 25 Jun 2014:

      Ah, the atom also has a nucleus, made of protons and neutrons, which thus contains most of the mass and is positively charged. But I’m possibly confusing you if you are speaking about the cell nucleus.

      For the cell, the nucleus contains the DNA, which are the instructions (“blueprint”) for life.

    • Photo: Kevin O'Dell

      Kevin O'Dell answered on 25 Jun 2014:

      As Darren says, there’s the nucleus of an atom, and the nucleus of a cell.

      As a geneticist it’s the nucleus of a cell that I’m interested in. As Darren says the cell’s nucleus is where all the DNA is, packaged into chromosomes. Only eukaryotic organisms (everything apart from bacteria) have a nucleus and it’s the place where transcription occurs. So in a eukaryote transcription (nucleus) and translation (cytoplasm) occur in two very distinct places so are completely separate processes.

      I think of the nucleus as the place that controls how a cell works and what type of cell it’s going to become. This is true for all your cells except red blood cells which don’t have a nucleus.

Comments