Cells have evolved to contain many intricate structures inside of its membrane.

Many of these structures serve specific purposes.

This interconnected network of structures inside of a cell can be compared to the system of gears inside of a simple machine. Just as the gears have to cooperate among themselves to ensure the machine's proper function, the internal organelles of a cell have to interact to ensure the cell's ultimate survival.

There are several main functions that the cell has to carry out:
METABOLISM BREATHING

PHOTOSYNTHESIS
SENSITIVITY REPRODUCTION

Cells have to carry out tens of thousands of chemical reactions to maintain their proper function. All of these reactions need energy, but where does the energy come from? Since the beginning of evolution, cells have developed highly efficient metabolic systems.

The specific mechanisms vary in different cell types. For example, plant cells derive their energy from photosynthesis and animal cells rely on aerobic respiration to fulfill their energy needs.

Although the mechanisms differ, the end goal of all metabolic systems is the same, to produce ATP molecules. Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in living organisms to maintain life.

These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments.

The chemical reactions of metabolism are organized into metabolic pathways, in which one chemical is transformed through a series of steps into another chemical, by a sequence of enzymes.

Enzymes are crucial to metabolism because they allow organisms to drive desirable reactions that require energy and will not occur by themselves, by coupling them to spontaneous reactions that release energy.

As enzymes act as catalysts they allow these reactions to proceed quickly and efficiently.

Enzymes also allow the regulation of metabolic pathways in response to changes in the cell's environment or signals from other cells.

Metabolism is usually divided into two categories.

Catabolism breaks down organic matter, for

example to harvest energy in cellular respiration.

Anabolism uses energy to construct

components of cells such as proteins and nucleic acids.