Question: what do lysosomes do

Paul McKeegan answered on 13 Nov 2017:

The first talk I ever did at university was about lysosomes!
They are a part of a cell called an organelle, along with the nucleus, mitochondria, ribosomes etc. They are quite a lot simpler than these other organelles and are basically a balloon filled with water, with lots of enzymes floating around in it. These enzymes are proteins which digest or break down things, including food molecules, broken organelles that need replacing, and other cells like bacteria that are trying to infect the cell! They are found in animal cells, but not usually in plants as the cell wall that plant cells have block the entry of the big molecules and organelles that the lysosome breaks down.