The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to cell biology: Cell biology – A branch of biology that includes study of cells regarding their physiological properties, structure, and function; the organelles they contain; interactions with their environment; and their life cycle, division, and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level. Cell biology research extends to both the great diversities of single-celled organisms like bacteria and the complex specialized cells in multicellular organisms like humans. Formerly, the field was called cytology (from Greek κύτος, kytos, "a hollow;" and -λογία, -logia).