Introduction to

general biology

1st theory lecture

Dentistry 2023
 Introduction
Biology:
Is the science of life.

• Its name is derived from the Greek words "bios" (life) and "logos" (study).

• Biologists study the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and

distribution of living organisms.

• Medical biology:
a field of biology that has practical applications in medicine, health
care and laboratory diagnostics.,
 Important definitions
• Biochemistry: Study of the material substances that make up living things.

• Botany: Study of plants, including agriculture, food production &

medicines.

• Cellular biology: Study of the basic cellular units (basic building block
of all life), the cell of living things.

• Ecology: Study of how organisms interact with their environment.

 Important defention
Evolutionary biology: Study of the origins and changes in the
diversity of life over time.

Genetics: Study of heredity and genetic material (DNA/RNA,

chromosomes, genes).

Molecular biology: Study of biological molecules.

Physiology: Study of the functions of organisms and their

parts.

Zoology : Animal biology

 History of medical Biology
1. Aristotle
-1st bio. teacher
“Father of Biology and Zoology”

2. Hippocrates
● “Father of Medicine”

3. Roper hook
Cell‖ First to observe a plant cell (cork cell)

4. Antonio Philips
• Helped in the improvement of the microscope
• First to describe muscles, blood flow in capillaries, spermatozoa, bacteria and protozoans
 5. Carl Linnaeus
• Laid the foundations for the modern scheme of Taxonomy
• Introduced the use of binomial nomenclature (genus + species)

6.Gregor Johann Mendel

• Father of Genetics
• First to discover the ability of organisms (pea plants) to pass traits from parents to
offspring.

7. Louis Pasteur
• Confirmed the theory of diseases
• Introduced the process of pasteurization
• First to create a vaccine against rabies
• Disproved the theory of spontaneous generation
 8.Lister
• “Father of Aseptic Surgery”

9. Sir Alexander Fleming

Isolate and discovered antibiotic (penicillin)
10 . Charles Robert Darwin
Pioneered the evolutionary theory , Proponent of the theory of natural selection

11. Watson and CrickSabin

Discovered the double helix structure of the DNA

12. Robert Koch

He is considered one of the founders of microbiology
 Characteristics of living things
1. Cellular composition
2. Growth
3. Reproduction
4. Movement
5. Adaptation
6. Metabolism
7. Specific organization
8. Homeostasis
9. Responsiveness
 1.Cellular composition
• Made up of at least one cell

• Unicellular - made of one cell

(bacteria, amoeba, paramecium)

• Multicellular - made up of two or

more cells (plants, fungi, animals)
 2. Growth
Increase in cell size (unicellular) and/or an increase in cell number
(multicellular)

3.Reproduction
• All living organisms have the ability to produce offspring.Either,

• Asexual- cell division (mitosis)—one cell becomes two Ex: bacteria

• Sexual- union of sex cells (sperm and egg) Ex: plants and animals
 4. Movement
3 types:
A. Place to Place- (ex: bear running, bird flying, etc)
B. External Part- (ex: + phototropism, plants orient leaves
toward sun)
C. Internal- (ex: cytoplasmic streaming
5. Adaptation
• Changing to meet the needs of the environment
 6. Metabolism
Set of chemical reactions that convert “food” into energy

7. Specific organization
• Certain parts do specific jobs (ex: heart, nucleus, chloroplasts, etc)
8. Homeostasis
• Maintaining the same state example -Water balance inside and outside of cell

9. Responsiveness
• Reaction(s) to various stimuli
• Examples of stimuli: light, heat, pH, vibration,
 Levels of living organization
Living things are organized:

➢Cells ⇨ tissues ⇨ organs ⇨ Systems

⇨ Organism (multicellular
organisms)

➢All organisms of one type belong to a

population.

➢The population of various organisms

make up a community.
Classification
 Classification of organisms
• The tool used for classification or grouping of objects or
information based on similarities.
• The science that deals with classification called taxonomy

• Taxonomy
Is the branch of biology that groups and names organisms
based on studies of their different characteristics.

• The modern taxonomic system was developed by the

Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus.

Hierarchial classification system

 Binomial Scientific and common
nomenclature names
• Taxonomists are required to use Latin
• In this system, the first word because the language is no longer used
identifies the genus of the in conversation and, therefore, does
organism.
not change.
•A genus (genera-plural)
consists of a group of similar • Scientific names should be italicized in
species. print and underlined when
handwritten.
• The second word, which
sometimes describes a
characteristic of the organism, • The first letter of the genus name is
is called the specific epithet. uppercase, but the first letter of the
specific epithet is lowercase.

Passer domesticus
 Why organism classified?
• Organisms are placed into
kingdoms based on their type of
cells, their ability to make food and
the number of cells in their bodies
• All organisms are classified into
one of the following 6 kingdoms.
The grouping of organisms into KINGDOMS
is based on 4 factors:

1. Cell Type: (prokaryotic or eukaryotic)

2. Cell Number: (unicellular or multicellular)
3. Feeding Type: (autotroph or heterotroph)
4. Reproduction type: (sexual or asexual)
Classification according to the cell types

Prokaryotic Eukaryotic
 Eukaryotes and prokaryotes
Prokaryotes: refer to the smallest and simplest type of
cells, without a true nucleus and no membrane-bound
organelles.
Bacteria fall under this category.

Some characteristics:
1. Small(1-10μm).
2. DNA circular,unbounded.
3. Genome consists of single chromosome.
4. Asexual reproduction common,by mitosis.
5. No general organelles.
6. Most forms are singular.
 Eukaryotes and prokaryotes
Eukaryotes: are more complex in structure, with nuclei and membrane-
bound organelles.
Eukaryotic organisms unlike prokaryotic can be unicellular or multicellular.

Some characteristics of eukaryotes are:

1. Large (100 - 1000 μm).

2. DNA in nucleus, bounded by membrane.
3. Genome consists of several chromosomes.
4. Sexual reproduction common, by mitosis and meiosis.
5. Mitochondria and other organelles present.
6. Most forms are multicellular
Classification of organisms according to the
Cell numbers
• Unicellular - made of one cell (bacteria, amoeba, paramecium)

• Multicellular - made up of two or more cells (plants, fungi, animals)

Classification of organisms according to the
feeding types
• Feeding Type : How the organisms get their energy 0r food. Either

1.Producer (Autotroph): Makes it’s own food

2. Consumer (Heterotroph): Must eat other organisms to survive
 Classification of organisms according to the
reproduction types
• Reproduction Type : How the organisms produce offspring. Either
1. Asexual : One parent
• Binary Fission
• Fragmentation
• Budding
2.Sexual: Two Parents
 Kingdoms and Domains
• In the 18th Century, organisms
were considered to belong to
one of two kingdoms, Animalia
or Plantae.
• In 1969, Robert Whittaker
proposed a five-kingdom
system consisting of monerans,
protists, fungi, plants and
animals.
 Kingdom1:Archeabacteria
Archaebacteria characteristics:

• Domain: Archaea
• Organisms: Methanogens, halophiles, thermophiles, and psychrophiles
• Cell Type: Prokaryotic
• Metabolism: Depending on species—oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide,
sulfur, sulfide may be needed for metabolism
• Nutrition Acquisition: Depending on species—nutrition intake may by
absorption, non-photosynthetic photophosphorylation, or chemosynthesis
• Reproduction: Asexual reproduction by binary fission, budding, or
fragmentation
 Kingdom 2: Eubacteria
Characteristics of Eubacteria:

Domain: Bacteria

Organisms: Bacteria, cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), and

actinobacteria

Cell Type: Prokaryotic

Metabolism: Depending on species—oxygen may be toxic,

tolerated, or needed for metabolism

Nutrition Acquisition:Depending on species—nutrition intake

may by absorption, photosynthesis, or chemosynthesis

Reproduction: Asexual
 Kingdom 3: Protista
Characteristics of Protista:
Domain: Eukarya
Organisms: Amoebae, green algae & slime molds
Cell Type: Eukaryotic
Metabolism: Oxygen is needed for metabolism
Nutrition Acquisition:Depending on species—nutrition
intake may be by absorption, photosynthesis, or
ingestion
Reproduction: Mostly asexual, but meiosis occurs in
some species
 Kingdom 4: Fungi
Cell type: eukaryotic

Cell number: unicellular or multicellular

Feeding habit: decomposer

Reproduction: Asexual or sexual

reproduction

Ex : mushrooms
 Kingdom 5:Plantae
Cell type : eukaryotic
Cell number: multicellular
Feeding habit: producers
Reproduction: asexual and sexual
 Kingdom 6: Animalia
Domain: Eukarya
Organisms: Mammals, amphibians, sponges, insects, worms.
Cell Type: Eukaryotic
Metabolism: Oxygen is needed for metabolism.
Nutrition Acquisition: Ingestion
Reproduction: Sexual reproduction occurs in most and asexual reproduction in
some.
• Animals can be classified into two main groups: vertebrates and invertebrates.
• Vertebrates have a backbone or spinal column, have an internal skeleton made
of bone, an advanced nervous system with a developed brain and have outer
covering of protective cellular skin.

• Invertebrates have no backbone, no cell walls. They are heterotrophic.