Organelles are components of eukaryotic cells, which act as functional units. A simple eukaryotic cell comprises of many organelles such as the mitochondria, vacuole, or nucleus. These organelles are responsible for the preservation of the cells function and vitality. Each organelle is dutiful to a specific role essential to the cell, and thus the greater organism. However, which of these organelles is the greatest contributor to cell vitality is widely debatable. Fundamentally, there is one organelle whose important outweighs the rest: the nucleus. This article will present the argument that the nucleus’ importance overrides every other organelle. Firstly, the unique role of the nucleus and its importance will be presented. Then the function …show more content…
Often referred to as the ‘brain’ of the cell, the nucleus is responsible for controlling and directing all cellular activity, which in turn, establishes the nature and purpose of the cell. The nucleus controls cellular activity as it is the harbor for DNA production. DNA acts as an instruction manual the cell needs for producing proteins and other important molecules such as; structural components of other organelles, metabolites, proteins, bilayers, and much more (Molecular Biology of the Cell 2002). The nucleus releases certain DNA sequences (or transcripts) into the cytosol, where they can then be transcribed and later translated. Therefore, the DNA which the nucleus releases will determine which molecules are produced. Once these molecules are produced they are then able to perform vital functions in the cell. Therefore if there were no nucleus, DNA production would be halted, which would prevent transcription and translation. Without transcription and translation, a eukaryotic cell would cease to exist, as it cannot produce any proteins or molecules responsible for it’s upkeep and function. This includes other organelles, as the nucleus acts as a progenitor. Therefore, not only is the nucleus’s function considered more vital than other organelles, but without it, other organelles …show more content…
Though unlike the nucleus, the mitochondrial DNA is only essential for the function of the mitochondria. Whereas, nuclear DNA is responsible for the upkeep of the entire cell. The role of the mitochondria in the cell is to be the primary energy producing factory through cellular respiration along the inner membrane. Without energy, the cell would not be able to perform any functionality. However, it is possible for cells to gather some energy without mitochondria. In fact, some amitochondriate eukaryotes exist, which actually lack mitochondria (n.d.). Whilst these cells have less energy, the first component of the cellular respiration cycle (glycolysis) can occur in the cytosol, in the absence of mitochondria (Specialized Cell Structure and Function 2015). Therefore, whilst mitochondria are an important component of the cell, their role is not considered as vital as the