Difference Between

Lysosomes vs Ribosomes

Lysosomes and Ribosomes are parts of cells that play important roles that are different from each other. While Lysosomes are a mechanism to digest foods in a cell, ribosomes are designed to synthesize proteins. There are more differences that will be talked about in this article.

Ribosomes

Ribosomes are also called protein synthesizers inside a cell. They are small structures inside a cell that help in synthesis of proteins. There can be millions of ribosomes inside a cell. Cells need proteins to grow and survive. These proteins help in many cell functions. Ribosomes can be found anywhere around the cell. They can be found floating in cytoplasm or they can be found on endoplasmic reticulum. The proteins made by ribosomes can be used inside the cell or it can be exported out of the cell. A ribosome is made of two sub units that come together when it is the time to make protein. When a cell needs protein, mRNA is created in the nucleus and sent to ribosomes that lock this mRNA and start protein synthesis. The subunits can be either 60:40 or 50:30 in size. This size difference is used by scientists to make drugs to kill microorganisms that cause diseases in cells.

Lysosomes

After all the hard work, cells need to get rid of all the garbage that builds inside them. This they do with the help of Lysosomes that are referred to as garbage disposal system of cells. They are sacs containing digestive enzymes that degrade the materials that need to be digested. Lysosomes also help in degrading organelles that have been worn out such as mitochondria. Lysosomes were discovered by Belgian scientist Christian de Duve in 1949. Lysosomes contain an ionic pump that helps in maintaining highly acidic pH inside Lysosomes. There are close to 40 digestive enzymes for degradation of materials. Lysosomes also help in degradation of materials that have lived their useful life.