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Why do multicellular organisms need a transporting system while single-celled organisms do not?

Multicellular organisms are made up of a large number of cells, while unicellular organisms are made up of one cell each. Unicellular organisms depend on the processes of diffusion and osmosis for exchanging the materials with their immediate environment. However, multicellular organisms are much larger in size and are much more complex, as compared to unicellular organisms. In the case of multicellular organisms, most of the cells are further away from the environment and cannot rely on osmosis and diffusion for direct material exchange with the environment. This means that an elaborate transport system is needed to take the nutrients to the appropriate body part or cell and to take the waste material to the external environment. Thus, we have a heart, blood, veins, arteries, etc. for carrying out the material transport.


The presence of an elaborate and specialized transport system is the reason multicellular organisms can grow to large sizes and have complex organ systems.


Hope this helps.  

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