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Chapter 1 Studying Life What is Biology? Biology: the scientific study of living things Living things: all the organisms descended from a single-celled ancestor. Characteristics of living organisms: Consist of one or more cells Contain genetic information Use genetic information to reproduce themselves Are genetically related and have evolved Can convert molecules from their environment into new biological molecules Can extract energy from the environment and use it to do biological work Can regulate their internal environment Evolution: a central theme Living systems evolve through differential survival and reproduction. Microscope: to see cells we needed the microscope invented in the 1590s by Hans & Zaccharias Janssen [Dutch]. Anton von Leeuwenhoek first described seeing living things under the microscope [pond water]; Robert Hooke examined a host of materials and came to the conclusion that there was a basic building block for living things that he named the cell. Unicellular organisms: a single cell carries out all the functions of life Multicellular organisms: made of many cells that are specialized for different functions Acellular viruses are not cells, but depend on cells. Cell Theory: Cells are the basic structural and physiological units of all living organisms. Cells are both distinct entities and building blocks of more complex organisms. (Schleiden and Schwann 1838) All cells come from preexisting cells. All cells are similar in chemical composition. Most of the chemical reactions of life occur within cells. Complete sets of genetic information are replicated and passed on during cell division. Viruses lack cellular structure but remain dependent on cellular organisms. Charles Darwin proposed that all living organisms are descended from common ancestors and are thus related. Evolution by natural selection: major unifying principle of biology. Species: a group of organisms that are morphologically similar and can breed successfully with one another. Offspring DO differ from parents variation. Selection:
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Humans select for desired traits when breeding animals. Darwin postulated that natural selection could occur through differential survival and reproductive success. Traits that increase the probability that the organism will survive and reproduce will become more common in the population. Natural selection leads to adaptation [traits that enhance an organisms chances of survival and reproduction]. DNA: the information that is passed from parent to daughter cells Genome: sum total of all the DNA in the cell All cells in a multicellular organism have the same genome. DNA: repeating subunitsnucleotides Gene: a specific segment of DNA moleculecontains information for making proteins Mutations are alterations in the nucleotide sequence. Cells acquire nutrients from their environment. Nutrients supply energy and materials for building biological structures (synthesis). Nutrient molecules contain energy in the chemical bonds that can be released to do work. Metabolism the sum of all chemical processes in cells. Living organisms control their internal environment [homeostasis]. Multicellular organisms have an internal environment that is not cellular. Cells are specialized, and organized into tissues, tissues are organized into organs. Biology is studied at many levels of organization: atoms molecules cell tissue organ organ system organism population community biosphere Living organisms interact: They may be territorial or they may cooperate. Individuals are part of populations. Interacting populations of many different species form a community. Interacting communities in a given area form ecosystems. Model systems: using one type of organism to understand others - generalization. How is all life on Earth related? All species on Earth share a common ancestor.

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The fossil record allows study of evolutionary relationships, knowing geologic ages of specimens, their locations and what is found with them. Modern molecular methods allow biologists to compare genomes. The greater the distance found between genomes, the more distant the common ancestor. Life arose by chemical evolution. Current estimate place the Earth at ~4.5- 4.6 billion years old. First life appears ~ 4 billion years ago. Organic molecules that could reproduce themselves were critical. Biological molecules were then enclosed in membranes. For 2 billion years, life consisted of single cellsprokaryotes. These cells were in the oceans, protected from UV radiation. Photosynthesis changed course of evolution: Metabolism: the sum of all chemical reactions that occur in cells. Earliest organisms [and many prokaryotes today] took materials directly from the environment and broke the molecules down to release energy. Photosynthesis evolved about 2.7 billion years ago [organisms similar to cyanobacteria]. Consequences of photosynthesis: O2 accumulated in the atmosphere Aerobic metabolism began Ozone layer formedallowed organisms to live on land [protects from UV]. Eukaryotic cells evolved from prokaryotes endosymbiosis theory. Organellesmembrane bound compartments with specialized functions: Nucleus Chloroplast Mitochondria Multicellular organisms arose about 1 billion years ago. Cellular specialization: Cells became specialized to perform certain functions division of labor. Evolutionary Tree of Life Evolution results in speciation. [Ex. isolation of members of a population from the rest may result in accumulation of changes in each that ultimately make it impossible for them to reproduce with each other.] Each species has a distinct scientific name, a binomial: Genus name Species name, for example, Homo sapiens ~30 million species may exist today - more HAVE existed but are now extinct. Outline of Tree of Life shows speciation, relatedness, etc. Based on fossil record, structures, metabolic processes, behavior & molecular analysis of genomes. The three domains of life are separated by molecular evidence: separated for more than a
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billion years. Bacteria Archaea Eukarya Multicellular Eukarya (plants, animals, and fungi) evolved from protistsunicellular microbial eukaryotes. Organisms are also categorized by how they get their nutrition. Autotrophs: organisms capable of photosynthesis Heterotrophs: require a source of molecules synthesized by other organisms Fungi - breakdown nutrients outside their bodies, then absorb them. Animals do it all inside. How do biologists investigate life? Biologists use many methods to expand our understanding of life. Observation - the beginning of knowledge: improved by technological advances Experimentation The scientific method combines observation with logic: Hypothesis-prediction method Observations Questions Hypotheses Predictions Testing Inductive logic leads to tentative answers or explanations called hypotheses. Deductive logic - used to make predictions what else must be true for the hypothesis to be true? Experiments are designed to test the predictions. The best are those that have the ability to prove a hypothesis wrong. Comparative experiments look for differences between samples or groups. Controlled experiments manipulate a variable that is predicted to cause differences between groups. Independent variable: the variable being manipulated Dependent variable: the response that is measured Statistical methods help scientists determine if differences between groups are significant. Statistical tests start with the null hypothesisthat there are no differences. Statistical methods are applied to data to determine the probability of getting a particular result even if the null hypothesis is true. Statistical methods eliminate the possibility that results are due to random variation. ~5% in general experiments and 1% in health-critical areas.

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Distinguishing science and non-science: Scientific hypotheses must be testable, and have the potential of being rejected. Methods used are clearly described for others to use - duplicate results. Science has uncompromising objectivity and absolute dependence on evidence that comes from reproducible and quantifiable observations. Deciding how information garnered through science will be used requires good ethics as well. How does biology influence public policy? Biological knowledge allows advances in human pursuits such as medicine and agriculture. These advancements raise ethical and policy questions. Biological knowledge contributes to our understanding of human influences on our environment. Biologists are called on to advise governments making policy decisions, but their recommendations may not always be followed. Examples of areas of concern: population growth, global warming, declines in other populations, rise of new diseases, resurgence of old diseases, availability and usage of genetic and other techniques.

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