Talk:Tissue (biology)

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Molecular Biology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Molecular Biology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Molecular BiologyWikipedia:WikiProject Molecular BiologyTemplate:WikiProject Molecular BiologyMolecular Biology
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the importance scale.
	This article is supported by the Molecular and Cell Biology task force (assessed as High-importance).

Anatomy: Gross High‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Anatomy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Anatomy on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AnatomyWikipedia:WikiProject AnatomyTemplate:WikiProject AnatomyAnatomy
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article has been classified as relating to gross anatomy.

Animal anatomy High‑importance

	This article is part of WikiProject Animal anatomy, an attempt to organise a detailed guide to all topics related to animal anatomy apart from human anatomy. To participate, you can edit the attached article, or contribute further at WikiProject Animal anatomy. This project is an offshoot of WikiProject AnimalsAnimal anatomyWikipedia:WikiProject Animal anatomyTemplate:WikiProject Animal anatomyAnimal anatomy
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Archives

1

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Adree.stem.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 11:25, 17 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Logical controversy in main definition

The page begins with the following definition: A tissue is an ensemble of similar cells and their extracellular matrix from the same origin that together carry out a specific function. I am aware that this is a traditional elementary school textbook definition. However, when I read, for example, the Connective tissue page, it says: The cells of connective tissue include fibroblasts, adipocytes, macrophages, mast cells and leucocytes. I see two issues here:

The textbook definition typically is more accurate, it includes cells of similar size, shape, metabolic and biochemical characteristics, here we say similar cells ... carry out a specific function, but overall, many animal tissues consist of distinct lineages of differentiation, even if these share the same origin. E.g. enterocytes and Paneth cells, or neurons and glia, are different cell types, but part of the same tissue.
Most vertebrate tissues contain cells which come from very different origin, most commonly, infiltrating immune cells. In common understanding these definitely belong to the tissue, hence the same origin in the definition is problematic. Osteoblasts and osteoclasts are also part of the same tissue, but are of different origin. Or just think about how many different cell types come together in the stroma of the ovary. Tissue has changed as people work out (Fortnite).

These should be clarified especially that tissue is most often used as a category between organ and cell type. Also, the definition has no references, would be great to cite a few reliable sources. I will try to improve on these points, but also wondering about other's opinions. --Aubergine11 (talk) 12:04, 16 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Acting on your request, but reverse the changes I've made if you don't find them an improvement. Just small tweaks to the wording along with a couple of references. Science is not as black and white as many people believe. A tissue is as much a conceptual as a biological entity so is very difficult to define in purely physical terms and the "function" of a tissue is often not fully understood. Leonardo da Vince did beautiful work describing what he dissected, noting different tissues, but didn't understand that the blood circulated through the body. And where does a heart structure that pumps it around start or stop? They are like the borders of a country, imposed on the land rather than structure that are part of it. A tissue is often what people see when they (delicately) cut and tear an animal or plant apart after its cells have replicated and intimately combined to form an animal. Any apparent separation demonstrated by teased apart "tissues" often has structural, functional or developmental significance but for highly complex reasons that will be different for every tissue. Trying to characterize all those reasons in a one liner or even a book of definitions is nigh impossible in my opinion. A generalized limited definition will help the reader, perhaps just say its not intended to be perfect? It doesn't have to be perfect does it? Tgru001 (talk) 03:52, 1 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]