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Number of Eukaryotic Cells

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Submitted By sleonhardt726
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A. Calculate an estimate of the number of eukaryotic cells in an average size adult human being. Your answer should be a number (with error assessment) or number range representing your estimate of the total amount of cells based on size. Detail your answer with biological and physiological assumptions and mathematical calculations that support your final estimate.

There is currently no consensus as to the true actual number of cells in the human body, as a wide range of estimates to the cell count exist among biologists. Estimates from various researchers suggest that the number of cells in the human body can fall anywhere from ten to one hundred trillion cells. Also, there are over two hundred different types of cells in the human body, and counting each of these has proven to be a rather difficult task. A number of factors can cause the variation in the number of cells in each human, including the weight of the person, their height, and the altitude on the earth in which they may live at, as higher altitudes, with less oxygen present, have extra blood to circulate more oxygen throughout the body.
If the average weight of an adult is taken to be 160 pounds, and it is assumed that the average weight of a human cell is 10-9 grams, then the following calculations can be performed to find the number of cells in an average adult human body:
(1cell / 10-9g) * (1000g / 1kg) * (1kg / 2.205lb) * (160lb) = 7.256*1013 cells
This value of 72.5 trillion cells is close to the estimated value of 60 trillion cells and certainly falls within the range given from many sources of ten to one hundred trillion cells in the average adult human body. Also, assuming that not all of the entire human body weight is made up of cells, the true estimated number of cells here would be lower than the calculated value, which could, in fact, put the number close to sixty trillion cells.
An MIT study that was comparing the functions, abilities, and characteristics of the human brain to a Pentium 4 computer chip found that the human body contained sixty trillion cells in total, and several other sources support this claim with strong backing. The study found that the adult brain can have from twenty to fifty billion neurons comprising it. The brain controls over one hundred billion nerve cells throughout the human body.
Within a milliliter of blood, there are five million red blood cells, or erythrocytes, three hundred thousand platelets, or thrombocytes, and ten thousand white blood cells, or leukocytes. An average adult weighing 160 pounds will have five quarts, or 4.7 liters, of blood. Thus, the total amount of blood in the human body will contain:
4.7L * (1000mL / 1L) * (5,000,000 red blood cells / 1 mL) = 2.35*1010 Red blood cells
4.7L * (1000mL / 1L) * (300,000 platelets / 1 mL) = 1.41*109 Platelets
4.7L * (1000mL / 1L) * (10,000 white blood cells / 1 mL) = 2.35*107 White blood cells
2.35*1010 + 1.41*109 + 2.35*107 = 2.49335*1010 Cells
Thus, there are about twenty-five billion blood cells suspended in plasma, which makes up about 55% of blood by volume. The remainder of the blood volume is composed of salts and organic substances. The average adult body has between forty and fifty billion fat cells. Also, assuming that the bones of a 160 pound adult weigh 70 pounds and that human bones contain the same basic number of cells as rabbits in order to use the same data from an experiment dealing with that animal, the amount of cells contained in the human skeletal structure will be: (596,000cells / 1mg) * (1,000,000mg / 1kg) * (1kg / 2.205lb) * (70lb) = 1.89*1013 cells
Combining these cell counts, along with the amounts of cells present in all of the muscles, organs, and other areas of the human body, the estimate of sixty trillion cells present in the human body is approximately reached. Among the many assumptions, some of which are noted above, that are required to be made for these estimates are that all cells have the same weight in the human body, the average weight of a human is 160 pounds, and that cells make up a good majority of the weight of a human body.

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