Hello, good morning. I’d like to begin this speech by briefly summarizing the attacks that were made upon our organelle through the mudslinging campaign. One group stated that “the nucleus does not perform any activities that help the cell.” This is an interesting perspective, in that it is entirely invalid. The nucleus is, in fact, the control center of the cell, which means it’s responsible for the preservation of chromosomes, which in turn are responsible for the order in which amino acids are assembled in the ribosomes, and is therefore essential for the production of proteins. Another group said that “the nucleus often becomes mutated and cancerous.” Let’s stop here and think for a minute, look around the room, do you see anyone with 7 fingers, 3 arms, or 5 nipples? I didn’t think so. Do you notice any other deficiencies other than your inability to construct a strong argument against our blatantly superior organelle? Once again, I didn’t think so. Also remember that these mutations can even beneficial to the organism. In fact, the only reason we are here today as we are, and not some hairy ape in Africa is because of this one “weakness” our organelle is being accused of having. Arguably, we have seen more benefits than inefficiencies in this capacity to mutate. Supporting this postulation is the transference of auspicious mutations to successive generations, and the
perishing of those predecessors who have experienced adverse mutations. Without this simple concept (that of natural selection proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace) we might as well be the decedents of sick, incapable and inferior ancestors. A fellow campaigner also stated that “the Nucleus should not be declared the most important organelle in the cell because the Nucleus would not be able to function if it were not for the rest of the organelles.” This is simply and utterly wrong. It is quite the opposite in fact, if it were not for the Nucleus the cell would not exist in the first place because in the processes of mitosis (the replication of the chromosomes) and cytokinesis (the division of the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane) the cell depends on the Nucleus, and the nucleus alone, for this division and therefore the intrinsic evolution of the organism. Given what we know about the origin of cells from Cell Theory: all cells come from preexisting cells, without the existence of the nucleus, cells could not undergo division, which means we wouldn’t even have the dignity of being fetuses, we’d all be zygotes for crying out loud!
The fact of the matter is, the nucleus is significant, and there is no getting around it. It is responsible (either directly or indirectly) for chromosome maintenance and preservation, protein synthesis, cell
division, cell compartmentalization (which is the isolation of cellular processes such as glycolysis to prevent cellular disruption), as well as many other vital cellular functions. Let’s all remember that the only reason any of the other organelles know what the heck is going on, is because of the Nucleus, without ‘em, the cell would be submerged in a perpetual state of anarchy, and that’s not very American. The Nucleus provides instructions and ultimately stability to its inferior organelles, this makes the Nucleus #1.
VOTE NUKE!
Shabalina SA, Ogurtsov AY, Spiridonov NA (2006). "A periodic pattern of mRNA secondary structure created by the genetic code". Nucleic Acids Res. 34 (8): 2428–37.
Blackburn, Susan. Maternal, Fetal, & Neonatal Physiology, p. 80 (Elsevier Health Sciences 2007).
Rubenstein, Irwin, and Susan M. Wick. "Cell." World Book Online Reference Center. 2008. 12 January 2008 Desmond, Adrian (1989), The Politics of Evolution: Morphology, Medicine, and Reform in Radical London, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-14374-0