Motorcycle Cell Analogy

Loic Rouaud

The air filter on a motorcycle is a lot like the cell membrane in organisms. They both let certain things into the cell or engine, while keeping out harmful substances

The cytoplasm of a cell is like the motorcycle’s chassis, or frame.It holds all the bike’s components together, and still lets moving parts move.

The display and controls of the bike are like the nucleus of the cell. All the important information (to the driver) is displayed and controlled through these devices.

The gears and clutch, are like the endoplasmic reticulum, because they take the energy from the engine, and modifiy it according to the engines specific performance needs

A cell’s ribosomes are a lot like the internal wiring of the motorcycle. Ribosomes produce proteins which perform many functions, such as tranffer information and energy. Electrical wiring also transfers energy and information.

The nucleolus is like the internal comuter, it contains important information for the bike to function correctly. i.e. Sending firing signals to the spark plugs

A cell’s mitochondria is comparable to a spark plug in a motorcycle. Mitochondria turn food into useable energy. The spark plug is part of a system that turns hydrocarbons into energy for the motorcycle

A cell’s golgi bodies could be compared to a motorcycle’s chain. The chain transports the energy from the engine to the rear wheel. In a cell, Golgi bodies prepare cell materials for transpotation around the cell.

The motorcycle’s gas tank is like a cell’s vacuole. It stores gas for the engine to use later. A vacuole performs a similar function, it stores excess cell materials to be used later.