THE WEIGHT OF A CELL

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

We know that a single yeast cell weighs about 100 picograms and a single E. coli bacterium weighs about one picogram. While we now have devices that can measure individual cells with femtogram precision, scientists decades ago had to make do with whatever was already in the lab. The weight of an individual yeast cell was first measured with little more than a microscope, sugar water, and a camera. Measuring E. coli required a completely different strategy. This post looks at these early experiments to show how phenomena that seem difficult to measure can be overcome through mathematics and first principles thinking.