UPCAT BIOLOGY (2ND VERSION)

• Biology


  The study of living organisms/things
• Organic compounds


  • Carbohydrates
  • Lipids
  • Proteins
  • Enzymes
  • Nucleic acids
  • Vitamins
• Carbohydrates


  Made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. They have the general formula CnH2nOn. Their sizes range from the small simple sugars like glucose and fructose to the large and complex forms like starch and glycogen. Only the simple sugars (monosaccharide) can easily pass across cell membranes. Most serve as energy molecules or energy reserves in living organisms. Cellulose gives strength and protection to plant cells.
• Lipids


  Macromolecules such as fats, oils, and waxes. They are made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The building blocks used to form fats are fatty acids and glycerol. Some excess food in the body is stored as fat. They are liquid at room temperature are known as oils. Waxes give a protective body covering to organisms. They make plant and animal tissues water-resistant.
• Proteins


  Made up of repeating units of amino acids. They are a component of the muscles and all other tissues. In the form of enzymes, they control the rate of chemical reactions inside the cell. Without the enzymes, such chemical processes hardly occur.
• Enzymes


  Proteins that act as catalysts (substances that can increase or speed up chemical reaction). They are specific in their actions. They are not used up in the reaction.
• Nucleic acids


  Carriers of heredity information in living organisms. Controls what an organism looks like, and what it can do.
• Vitamins


  Substances necessary in very small amount for body growth and activity. They are also needed to prevent certain diseases. Organic substances essential to life but not required as energy sources. The sources of most are plants and bacteria.
• Inorganic compounds


  • Water
  • Minerals
• Water


  The most abundant inorganic compound. About 65% to 95% of the substances of every living thing are water. It is the medium of transport for food, minerals, and other substances in living system.
• Minerals


  Chemical elements or compounds occurring naturally. They may come from the soil, maybe dissolved in water, or maybe found as salt in seawater. Absorbed by plant roots in the form of ions.
• The cell is the basic structure of all living things. This is the foundation of cell theory. Most cells can reproduce to form new cells which are almost identical to the original cell. Sex cells reproduce by meiosis while somatic cells (autosomes or body cells) reproduce by mitosis.
• Types of cells


  • Prokaryotic
  • Eukaryotic
• Prokaryotes


  Cells that do not have a nuclear membrane or membrane-bound organelles. Bacteria and blue-green bacteria are examples.
• Eukaryotes


  Refer to most cells making up all other living organisms.
• Components of a generalized cell

  • Cell membrane
  • Nucleus
  • Cytoplasm
• Organelles

  • Cell wall
  • Centrioles
  • Nucleolus
  • Chromosomes
  • Ribosome
  • Mitochondria
  • Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum
  • Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum
  • Golgi Apparatus
  • Peroxisomes
  • Vacuoles
  • Lysosomes
  • Basal bodies
  • Chloroplast
  • Plastids
• Plant cells have most of the same structures as animal cells except for centrioles. In addition, plant cytoplasm also contains vessels called chloroplasts that capture light energy and use it to make the cell's food. Plants cells also have a tough cell wall surrounding the cell membrane; the cell wall gives a plant its stiffness.
• Although each cell of an individual contains all the genetic information for its form and function, not every cell expresses all the information. In multicellular organisms, cells develop in different ways as the embryo develops. This unique ability for cellular differentiation allows development of specialized cellular organelles, cells, tissues, organs, and systems that make each member of a species unique.
• Homeostasis


  The balance or working equilibrium that is optimum for the cell's needs. This accounts for all movement into and out of the cell. Though the cell can adjust to a wide range of environmental needs and amounts, there is a limit to how much and how often it can adjust.
• Methods of molecular movement


  • Active transport
  • Passive transport
  • Endocytosis
  • Phagocytosis
  • Exocytosis
• Turgor pressure is necessary for the cell to adjust to its needs and environment. This pressure determines the amount of water maintained inside the cell to counterbalance the environment outside the cell. It is by the maintaining of this pressure that all transportation needed in the cell is determined.
• Protein degradation


  The process by which proteins are broken down into the smallest units, called amino acids. Then, the amino acids are reconstructed into peptide chains (by the process of protein synthesis) that can be used by cell organelles or other materials as needed by the cell.
• Cell division types


  • Mitosis
  • Meiosis
• Mitosis


  1. Interphase

  2. Prophase

  3. Prometaphase

  4. Metaphase

  5. Anaphase

  6. Telophase
• Meiosis


  It consists of two successive cell divisions with only one duplication of chromosomes. This results in daughter cells with a haploid number of chromosomes or one-half of the chromosome number in the original cell. This process occurs during the formation of gametes and in spore formation in plants.
• Life functions

  • Respiration
  • Excretion
  • Assimilation
  • Regulation
  • Synthesis
  • Irritability
  • Movement
  • Bioluminescence
  • Transportation
  • Metabolism
• Homeostasis


  • Maintaining a stable internal environment
• Synthesis


  Building up of complex molecules from simple compounds
• Irritability


  Response to stimuli
• Movement


  The ability to change position
• Bioluminescence


  Production of internal light within some organisms
• Transportation


  The movement of nutrient, water, ions, and other materials into and out of the various cells and tissues of organisms
• Metabolism


  The process by which nutrients and simple molecules are used to form more complex molecules for growth, repair, and reproduction (anabolism). Also includes the process of breaking down complex molecules to release energy from chemical bonds (catabolism) and to provide small molecules such as simple sugars and amino acids as building blocks for more complex molecules (anabolism).
• Ingestion


  Taking in food
• Digestion


  A special form of catabolism that breaks food down into smaller molecules and releases energy
• Secretion


  Formation of useful substances
• Absorption


  Allows small molecules to pass through cell membranes throughout the body tissues
• Excretion


  Getting rid of wastes of the cells
• Types of Reproduction

  • Asexual
  • Sexual