Tackle and Conceivable

Because cells are the fundamental units of life, it is to cell biology—the study of the structure, function, and behavior of cells—that we must look for answers to the questions of what life is and how it works. With a deeper understanding of cells and their evolution, we can begin to tackle the grand historical problems of life on Earth: its mysterious origins, its stunning diversity, and its invasion of every conceivable habitat. Indeed, as emphasized long ago by the pioneering cell biologist E. B. Wilson, “the key to every biological problem must finally be sought in the cell; for every living organism is, or at some time has been, a cell.”