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Micro World

How small is Tetrahymena thermophila?

Tetrahymena thermophila has a body length of about 50 µm.

What is measured: pear-shaped freshwater ciliate, body length

Tetrahymena thermophila (50 µm) drawn to scale beside a cloud droplet (20 µm) and a human hair (70 µm)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Cloud droplet (20 µm), Tetrahymena thermophila (50 µm) and Human hair (70 µm).

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How big is that, really?

  • About 71% of the width of a human hair
  • About 2 would fit across a human egg cell
  • About 2.5× the width of a cloud droplet
  • About 6.7× the width of a red blood cell
  • About 25× as long as an E. coli bacterium

Learn

Facts about Tetrahymena thermophila

Tetrahymena thermophila was the organism used to discover the enzyme telomerase, earning a Nobel Prize.

Source: Tetrahymena Genome Database; Encyclopedia of Life

Micro World

NameSizeCompared with Tetrahymena thermophila
Human Hepatocyte25 µm0.5×
Dandelion Pollen Grain35 µm0.7×
Taenia solium Egg35 µm0.7×
Tetrahymena thermophila50 µmthis page
Ascaris lumbricoides Egg60 µm1.2×
Human Cheek Epithelial Cell60 µm1.2×
Pine Pollen Grain70 µm1.4×
Human Adipocyte100 µm2×
Euplotes100 µm2×
Human Cardiomyocyte100 µm2×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Tetrahymena thermophila or Ascaris lumbricoides Egg?

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