Chapter 1

• What is biology?

  The study of life
• Characteristics of life:

  1. Cells and organizations
  2. Energy use and metabolism
  3. Response to environmental changes
  4. Regulation and homeostasis
  5. growth and development
  6. Reproduction
  7. Evolution
• Cells and organizations:

  • Organizations are all living things
  • The simplest unit of an organism is a cell
• The cell theory: All organisms are made of cells
• Energy use:

  • living things cannot maintain their organization or carry on life's activities without energy
• metabolism:

  • encompasses all the chemical reactions that occur in a cell
• Photosynthesis:

  • a process in which plants and certain other organisms capture solar energy to produce their own nutrients
  • the process that transforms solar energy into chemical energy in the bonds of organic nutrient molecules
• Response to environmental change:

  • Living organisms respond to environmental change to promote their survival
• Adaptation:

  • is any modification that makes an organism suited to its way of life
• Regulation and homeostasis:

  • property of a living organism to regulate its internal environment to maintain a stable, constant condition
  • multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustments and regulation mechanics make homeostasis possible
• Growth and development

  • growth produces more or larger cells
  • development is the series of changes in the state of a cell, tissue, organ, or organism.
• Reproduction:

  • living things can reproduce and make another organism like itself
• All living beings:

  1. are compromised of one or more units called cells
  2. contain genetic information (DNA, RNA)
  3. reproduce (sexually, asexually)
  4. grow and develop
  5. exchange energy and material with their environment
  6. maintain their internal condition (homeostasis)
  7. respond to their environment
  8. evolve and belong to separate groups called species
• are viruses living things?

  no
• 4 living thing's characteristics in viruses:

  1. Contain genetics information
  2. reproduce (asexually)
  3. respond to their environment
  4. Evolve and belong to separate groups called species
• Atoms:

  • smallest unit of matter
• molecules:

  • a group of atoms bonded together
• macromolecules:

  • many molecules bond together to form a polymer
• the cell:

  • smallest unit of biological organization
  • alive
  • molecules and macromolecules associate with each other to form membranes
  • cells are surrounded by plasma membrane, carry out complex chemical reactions
  • potentially capable of self reproduction
  • variety of shapes and sizes
  • all true cells have genetic material
• tissue:

  • a group of similar cells that associate with each other and carry out a specific set of functions
• organs:

  • are groups of two or more types of tissues organized together to carry out a particular set of functions
  • composed of several types of tissue
• the organism:

  • level of biological organization that has its own distinct existence as a complex, self reproducing unit
  • all living things
  • belonging to a particular species -> related group of organisms
  • members of the same species are closely related genetically
• multicellular organisms:

  • organisms made of many highly specialized cells which can not exist independently of other cells in the organism
• unicellular organisms:

  • consists of a single independent cell
• population:

  • group of freely interacting and breeding individuals of the same species that occupies the same environment
• community:

  • all the populations of different species living and interacting together in a district area
  • the type of species are determined by the environment and the interactions of species with each other
• ecosystem:

  • formed by interactions of a community of organisms with their physical environment
• biosphere:

  • region on, below and above earth's surface where life exists
• taxonomy:

  • is the grouping of species based on common ancestry
• taxonomy domains:

  • Bacteria - unicellular prokaryotic
  • archaea - unicellular prokaryotic
  • Eukarya - unicellular to multicellular eukaryotic
• eukarya 4 kingdoms:

  • protista
  • fungi
  • plantae
  • animalia
• Genome:

  • the complete genetic makeup of an organism
• Genome functions:

  • stable information unit
  • storing information
  • blueprint to create the organism's characteristics
  • provides continuity through generations
  • instrument of evolutionary change
  • can undergo a mutation that may alter the characteristics of an organism
• Genomics:

  • techniques used to analyze DNA sequences in genomes
• proteomes:

  • the complete complement of proteins that a cell or organism can make
  • the genome carries the information to make its proteome
• proteomics:

  • techniques used to analyze the proteome of a single species and the comparison of proteomes of different species
• classification of living organisms:

  • Domain
  • King - Kingdom
  • Phillip - Phylum
  • Comes - Class
  • Over - Order
  • For - Family
  • Great - Genus
  • Spaghetti - Species
• hypothesis:

  • proposed explanation for a natural phenomenon based on previous observations or experimental studies
• Theory:

  • used as broad explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is substantiated by a large body of evidence
  • allows us to make many predictions
  • also can never be proved true
  • due to overwhelming evidence, extremely likely to be true
• key attributes of a theory:

  • consistency with a vast amount of known data
  • ability to make many correct predictions