What is flagella: its types and function
Flagella (singular: flagellum) are hair-like protrusions made of microtubules that stick out from the plasma membrane. They can be found on almost all types of cells. The name Flagellum means "Whip," and they look like whips. Most of the time, they are used to move a cell through a liquid. Their length is between 5 and 20 micrometers, and their width is between 10 and 30 nm. How flagella came to be People have looked at them for a long time. The first observations were made in the 1600s. But it wasn't until the 1800s that scientists figured out how flagella are made and what they do. Theodor Schwann, a German biologist, said that all living things are made up of cells in 1837. This idea, which is still used today, became known as the "cell theory." Scientists like Matthias Schleiden and Rudolf Virchow also started to study the structures of cells around the same time. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a German biologist, used one of his own microscopes to look at flagel...