An organelle is a small, specialized structure inside a cell that has a specific job, like making energy or building proteins.
From “organ” plus the diminutive suffix “-elle,” suggesting a “little organ.” Scientists named them this way because they act like tiny organs within a cell.
Calling them ‘organelles’ is a mental shortcut: it tells you to think of cells as tiny bodies with mini-organs. Mitochondria as ‘power plants’ and nuclei as ‘control centers’ are more than metaphors—they shape how we design experiments.
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