The simple, lowly chicken egg. Tasty. How do you like them? I eat boiled eggs, poached eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, egg salad, deviled eggs, one-eyed sandwiches, souffles, you name it. And don’t forget breading foods for frying, or egg washes for baking. What about you? How do you eat eggs?
So how many cells are there in the egg of a chicken? Many eggs have only one cell. Surely a chicken egg can’t be just one cell, right?
There are many seemingly silly things in actuality we’d love to know about. You know that statement is true. But consider, now, the lowly egg. How many cells (the building block of any organism) are in a simple egg?
Chicken Egg – How Many Cells?
The female gamete or egg cell for most species is generally quite small, being no larger than a pencil point. Oddly enough, the large, edible egg of a chicken consists of just one single, solitary cell. Quirky!
Note: You might also enjoy reading The Y-Chromosome – Is It in Danger?
I think I learnt that in school a long time ago but it’s still fascinating to be reminded of it.
Only one cell! Seriously.
It is weird, isn’t it? Who would have thought it?
Eggs have a single cell only, my teacher told me in school.
It seems totally amazing that something so large is just one cell!
It does, doesn’t it. It’s an egg. are all eggs just one cell? ostrich eggs? robin eggs? etc. It’s a crazy thing to think about!! It really is.
That is so weird!!!!
But if all eggs are single cells, that would make an ostrich egg the largest single cell, right?
Hm. Or maybe a dinosaur egg?
I from now on do not want to eat eggs anymore.
Okay, but that means the entirety of the yolk is just a puddle of chicken DNA, and that the white is cytoplasm. I am not okay with eating DNA and Cytoplasm for breakfast.
How is that even possible? Crazy! But, it doesn’t change my opinion that eggs are good to eat.
I totally agree with you. They are marvelous.
So they are a single cell, but many atoms? Today I spent about 20 minutes peeling 6 boiled eggs in the kitchen where I work. Those shells really don’t want to come off!
It is generally believed that a fresher egg is a better egg — however, not when it comes to peeling.
The shell, too, is part of the single cell? It’s the cell wall, right?
Not really. Though it does hold the contents together!
It’s really amazing. They must be the biggest cells in the world, right? Today I learned another amazing fact: there is a species of bacteria so big that you can see it with the naked eye (Thiomargarita magnifica). Nature always surprises us. I hope we keep learning more amazing things.