Talk:Cilium

I remember reading that smoking paralyzes the cilia in your lungs (or, apparently, windpipe). --Jack (Cuervo) 11:41, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

There is plenty of info here on the structure of Cilia but ridiculously little on their function.

As far as I can recall, they're responsible for the "tickle" when you need to cough, but I can't verify this or elaborate at all. --Johnny (Cuervo) 21:22, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Plasmodium falciparum

The mechanism of Intraflagellar transport constructing cilia has now become a focus of attention, as discussed in some detail here. Apparently a Jekely and Arendt (2006) cilium evolution paper p. 193 describes Plasmodium falciparum as an exception that lacks IFT – "species with cilia that do not rely on IFT (in the parasite Plasmodium cilia assemble in the cytoplasm(48))". I've added a brief mention of this, using the panda's thumb link as I don't have access to the paper or the expertise to work from it. .. dave souza, talk 19:43, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

biology

  Adv. Biology is hard. I blinked and was a half a chapter behind.

PS. Write an interesting response.

Some info moved from "nose hair"- please merge it if necessary

Cilia of the nasal cavity consist of cells that form microscopic strands in the nasal passages that moisten the inhaled air (via mucosa), warm it, and trap foreign objects that flutter in its stream. Healthy cilia beat in a coordinated backward-&-forward motion on an average of sixteen times per second, unlike nasal hairs that have no coordinated motion. They draw mucus up from the epithelium by capillary action to maintain humidity in the nasal passages. This is accomplished by trapping moisture in exhaled air and humidifying its evaporation via inhaled air. Also unlike nasal hairs, ciliated cells push mucus back in towards the oropharynx where it can be either swallowed or ejected. This mechanism is much like the system by which cilia in the ear canal remove cerumen and other detritus; visible ear hairs have no such use.

Cilial motility regularly declines with advancing age, a fact that may be implicated in the higher incidence of respiratory infections in this group of individuals.\

Biology Response

I totally agree. Biology is very hard. I thought that studying the cell was the hardest chapter. Our teacher actually made us take a test on how to hold a microscope.--69.196.197.190 (talk) 02:18, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

cilium vs. flagellum

The present article reads: Along with flagella, they make up a group of organelles known as undulipodia. I thought that cilia are structurally identical to flagella. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.64.166.91 (talk) 12:18, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I am not a biologist but I had understood that to be the case also. Someone will need to find a verifiable source to clarify it for the article. I had understood the that both a cilium and a flagellum were structurally similar organelles but that the name given was 'flagellum' in the case of single celled organisms and 'cilia' in the case of multiple-cell organisms. There function is similar as well, handling protein transport and, in the case of the motile cilia and most flagella, having an ability to move as well through some sort of rotor/stator protein arrangement in the basal body of the cell. N2e (talk) 11:40, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

History

If someone is going to write something on the scientific history, it may be interesting to know that it was discovered in 1898, and the article that is usually referenced, is "Beiträge zur Kenntnis einiger Drüsen und Epithelien" by Zimmerman in "Archiv für mikroskopische Anatomie", 9, pp. 163-168. Probably ISSN 0176-7364 or ISSN 0176-7356. I haven't been able to get it online, yet. --WvEngen (talk) 10:09, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

Flagella and Cilia

Flagella and Cilia differ in the fact that cilia are shorter and more numerous. They also look like hairs. Their motion is similar to a rowboat. Flagella look alot like sperm cells. They have a tail that moves them along instead of hairs.