Unifying Themes in Biology

Sunday, 17 September 2023 11:15 am

BIOLOGY
Definition
 The scientific study of life
• Unifying themes:
a. Organization
b. Information
c. Energy and Matter
d. Interactions
e. Evolution

ORGANIZATION
Definition
 The organization of complex biological structures and systems that define life
using a reductionistic approach

What is reductionism?

Reductionism is an approach that

reduces complex systems to simpler
components that are more manage-
able to study.

Levels
1. Biosphere
 Consists of all life and all the places where life exists
2. Ecosystem
• Includes the living organisms or populations in an area and the non-living
aspects of the environment
• Types of ecosystems:

3. Community
 All of the populations of different species that live in the same area and interact
with one another
4. Population
 Consists of the individuals of a species living within the bounds of a specified
area that interbreed
5. Organism
 Individual living things

6. Organ
 A body part made of multiple tissues and has a specific function in the body
7. Tissue
 A group of cells that perform a specific function together

8. Cell
 Life's fundamental unit of structure and function
 The basic building block of all living things
 9. Organelles
 The various functional components present in cells
10. Molecules
 Chemical structure made up of two or more units called atoms

Structure and Function

• At each level of the hierarchy, there is a correlation between structure and
function
• The match of form and function is explained by natural selection

The Cell
 Smallest unit of organization that can perform all activities required for life

 The Cell Theory:

- First developed in the 1800s by many scientists
- Principles
1. All organisms are made of cells
 2. All existing cells are produced by other living cells
3. The cell is the most basic unit of life
- Main forms of cells:
1. Prokaryotic
○ No true nucleus
○ No membrane-bound cellular organelles
○ Prokaryotes are unicellular
2. Eukaryotic
○ Contain a true nucleus
○ Contain membrane-bound cellular organelles
○ Eukaryotes be unicellular or multicellular

INFORMATION
Expression and Transmission of Genetic Information
• Structures called chromosomes contain genetic material in the form of DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid)
• They are thread-like structures in the nucleus made of protein nd a single
molecule of DNA that carry genomic information from cell to cell
• Each chromosome contains one very long DNA molecule with hundreds or
thousands of genes

• Genes are the units of inheritance and are passed from parents to offspring
• DNA encode necessary information to establish the cell's identity
• You begin as a single cell stocked with DNA from your parents, and the
replication leads to you becoming trillions of cells.
• A DNA molecule is made up of two long chains called strands arranged in a
double helix
• Each DNA chain is made up of four kinds of chemical building blocks called
nucleotides, abbreviated A, T, C, G.
• Specific sequences of nucleotides encode the information in genes
• The sequence provides the blueprint for making a protein
• Proteins are major players in building the call and carrying out its activities
• Protein-encoding genes control protein production using RNA
• The sequences of nucleotides is transcribed into mRNA, which is then translated
into a linked series of protein building blocks called amino acids

• The amino acid chain forms a specific protein with a unique shape and function
• Gene expression is the entire process by which the information in a gene directs
the manufacture of a cellular product
• The genome is the entire library of genetic instructions that an organism inherits
• A human has two similar sets of chromosomes, and each set has approximately
 3 billion nucleotide pairs of DNA

Fields of Genetics
 Genomics is study of the genetic sequence information of organisms
 Proteomics is the study of sets of proteins and their properties
• What made research developments in genetics possible:
a. High-throughput technology
- Tools that can analyze many biological samples rapidly
b. Bioinformatics
- The use of computational tools to store, organize, and analyze the huge
volume of data from the high-throughput technology
c. The formation of interdisciplinary research teams
- Groups of diverse specialists

ENERGY AND MATTER

The Transformation of Energy and Matter
• Various activities of life are work, and work requires energy
• The input and transformation of energy from one form to another make life
possible
• The sun is the main source of energy
• Process:
- When an organism uses chemical energy to perform work, some of that energy
is lost to the surroundings as heat
- As a result, energy flows through an ecosystem
- In contrast, chemicals cycle within an ecosystem
- Eventually, the chemicals will be returned to the environment
INTERACTIONS
Molecules (Interaction Within Organisms)
• Interactions between components that make up living organisms are crucial to
their operation
• Feedback regulation:
- The output or product of a process that regulates every process
- Types of feedback:
1. Negative feedback - the response reduces the initial stimulus and reduces
change
2. Positive feedback - the end product seeds up its own production and
increases change

Ecosystems (Interactions with Other Organisms and the Physical

Environment)
• At the ecosystem level, every organism interacts with other organisms
• Types of interactions:
a. Mutualism
- Both organisms benefit from each other
b. Parasitism
- One organism benefits, the other is harmed
c. Commensalism
- One organism benefits, the other is unaffected
d. Competition
- Organisms compete for the same resource in a limited supply
e. Predation
- When a predator hunts its prey