BIO 103

L-1:The Science of Biology

Properties of Life

• Biology is the study of living things—the science of life.

• Living things come in an astounding variety of shapes and forms,
and biologists study life in many different ways.
• They live with gorillas, collect fossils, and listen to whales. They
isolate viruses, grow mushrooms, and examine the structure of
fruit flies. They read the messages encoded in the long molecules
of heredity and count how many times a hummingbird’s wings
beat each second.
• What makes something “alive”?
• Anyone could deduce that a galloping horse is alive and a car is not,
but why?
• We cannot say, “If it moves, it’s alive,” because a car can move, and
gelatin can wiggle in a bowl. They certainly are not alive.
• What characteristics do define life?
• All living organisms share five basic characteristics:

• 1. Order. All organisms consist of one or more cells with highly

ordered structures: atoms make up molecules, which construct
cellular organelles, which are contained within cells. This
hierarchical organization continues at higher levels in multicellular
organisms and among organisms.

• 2. Sensitivity. All organisms respond to stimuli. Plants grow toward

a source of light, and your pupils dilate when you walk into a dark
room.
• 3. Growth, development, and reproduction. All organisms are
capable of growing and reproducing, and they all possess hereditary
molecules that are passed to their offspring, ensuring that the
offspring are of the same species. Although crystals also “grow,” their
growth does not involve hereditary molecules.
• 4. Regulation. All organisms have regulatory mechanisms that
coordinate the organism’s internal functions. These functions include
supplying cells with nutrients, transporting substances through the
organism, and many others.
• 5. Homeostasis. All organisms maintain relatively constant internal
conditions, different from their environment, a process called
homeostasis.
• The study of Biology includes:

• a) The cellular basis of living things

• b) The energy of metabolism that underlies the activities of life
• c) The genetic bases for inheritance in organisms
• d) It also includes the study of evolutionary relationships amongst
• organisms
• e) Includes the diversity of life on earth
• f) It considers the biology of microorganisms, plants and animals
• and it brings together the structural and functional relationships
• that underlie their day to day activities.
 Modern Biology
• Modern biology began during the 17th century.
• Robert Hooke (1635-1703) and Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-
1723) introduced a new tool, the microscope, to the scientific
world and discovered microorganisms
• Another pioneer of modern biology was William Harvey (1578-
1657), an English physician who traced the pattern of circulation of
blood in humans, and showed that it travelled in one direction
through the arteries and veins in a circular path.
• 
• Over 1.5million different kinds or species of organisms have been
identified and new ones are still being discovered.
• They range in size and complexity from tiny bacteria to trees and
humans.
• They are classified according to;
• the group of organisms being studied or
• the approach taken to the study of the organisms.
Group of Organisms Being Studied
• Examples of some of the main fields of biology formed using this method of
subdivision are:
• Botany The study of plants.
• Zoology The study of animals.
• Microbiology The study of microscopic organisms.
• Bacteriology The study of bacteria.
• Virology The study of viruses.
• Mycology The study of fungi.
• Entomology The study of insects.
• Ornithology The study of birds.
• 
Origin of Life

• Life arose more than 4.5 billion years ago

• First organisms (living things) were single celled.
• Two types of prokaryotic cells were present when life began : Archaebacteria and
bacteria.
• Organisms changed over time (evolved).
• Prokaryotic cells increased in complexity. Eukaryotic cells first appeared. Oxygen into
the earth’s atmosphere becomes available.
• New organisms arose from older kinds
• Today there are millions of species
• They inhabit almost every region of earth today
•
• Bacteria, Protists, Fungi, Plants, & Animals
• Hierarchical organization of living
things.
• Life is highly organized—from small
and simple to large and complex,
within cells, within multicellular
organisms, and among organisms.
 WHAT IS A CELL?
• The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living
organisms.
• Cells are self-contained and self-maintaining entity.
• It can take in nutrients, convert them into energy.
• Cell reproduces by ‘cell division’ ─ binary fission, mitosis and meiosis).
• Some organisms, such as most bacteria, are unicellular.
•  Other organisms, such as humans, plants and animals are multicellular
Characteristics of living things

• Living things possess certain properties that help define what life is. These
are:
• Growth
• All living organisms must grow.
• Living organisms grow using food that they obtain from nutrition. The
molecules are formed into new living material.
• Growth is a permanent increase in body size.
• Plants carry on growing all their lives.
• Animals stop growing when they reach a certain size.
• Example:

Eggs in incubator Chicken Cock/ Hen

• Reproduction
• All living organisms must make new individuals like themselves.
• Plants makes seeds that grow into new plants.
• Animals lay eggs or have babies.
• 
• Nutrition
• All living organisms need food,
which is used as a source of energy
and growth.
• Plants make their own food by
means of photosynthesis. They use
sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and
water into sugars.
• Animals eat plants or other
animals.
• 
• Respiration
• All life processes require energy and getting the energy out of the food we
eat is called respiration.
• The energy is released during the breakdown of certain energy-rich
compounds in the process of respiration.
• The energy released is stored in molecules of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
This compound had been found to occur in all living cells and is sometimes
referred to as the “Universal Energy Carrier”
• 
• Excretion
• All living things produce waste substances. Excretion means getting rid of the
waste substances that are made during chemical reactions in the cells.
• Animals breathe out waste carbon dioxide. Other waste substances leave the
body in the urine and in the sweat.
• 
• Sensitivity
• Living organisms are sensitive. They reacts to things happening around them.
• Examples:
• The growth of a plant towards light, Flowers of so many plants open in the
morning and close at night when it is dark.
• The rapid withdrawal of one’s hand from a hot object.
• Movement
• It is a characteristic of organisms that they or some part of them are capable
of moving themselves. We can identify movement in living organisms at
different levels.
• For example:
• Whole organism can move: a mammal can run.
• Organs inside organism can move: a heart beats, intestines move food along
them using squeezing movements.
• Individual cell can move: an amoeba can move from place to
• place using Pseudopodia.
• In case of plant: when a leaf grows towards the sun or a flower
• closes at night.
• 
Organization levels of life