• Question: what is the biggest cells

    Asked by alistair to Anzy, Aoife, Dave, Matt, Tomasz on 14 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Matthew Tomlinson

      Matthew Tomlinson answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      Hi Alistair

      The biggest human cell by diameter is the egg cell, also called an oocyte, which is about 0.1mm across, much bigger than the stem cells we use. There are cells which are longer like nerve cells and these can be over a metre long. However that is nothing compared to the colossal squid which some people think may have nerve cells which are over 10 metres long!

    • Photo: David Christensen

      David Christensen answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      I will just add to what Matt has said to say that some animal cells are different sizes to human cells which can be interesting and useful for scientists. Some people work with the egg cells of a particular type of frog because those frogs have particularly big egg cells which makes it easier for the scientist to see what they are doing!

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