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BIOLOGY
BIOLOGY
Biology - the study of the many varieties of life or living
Disciplines of biology
Botany - the study of plants
Zoology - the study of animals
Microbiology - the study of microorganisms
Biochemistry examines the fundamental chemistry of life
Molecular biology studies the complex interactions of
Principles of Biology
Cell theory
Evolution
Genes
Homeostasis
Energy
All living organisms are made of one or more cells, the basic
living unit of function in organisms.
All cells come from preexisting cells that multiply through cell
division.
Cell theory
The cell is the fundamental unit of life.
All living things are composed of one or more cells or
the secreted products of those cells, such as shells.
Cells arise from other cells through cell division
In multicellular organisms, every cell in the organism's
body is produced from a single cell in a fertilized egg.
The cell is considered to be the basic part of the
pathological processes of an organism.
Evolution
Life changes and develops through evolution and that all
"all life [is] from [an] egg" (from the Latin "Omne vivum ex ovo"), a
foundational concept of modern biology, means that there is an
unbroken continuity of life from its initial origin to the present time
Genetics
Genes are the primary units of inheritance in all
Homeostasis
Homeostasis - the ability of an open system to regulate
homeostasis.
It exists at the cellular level (e.g. cells maintain a stable internal
acidity (pH); warm-blooded animals maintain a constant internal
body temperature
It is also used in association with ecosystems (e.g. the roots of
plants help prevent soil from eroding, which helps to maintain the
ecosystem.
Tissues and organs can also maintain homeostasis.
It is also the maintenance of stability of numbers of individuals
within a population.
Energy
Survival depends on the continuous input of energy
Chemical reactions that are responsible for its structure and function
are tuned to extract energy from substances that act as its food and
transform them to form new cells and sustain them.
Mostly, energy needed for life processes originates from the Sun
plants and other autotrophs convert into chemical energy (organic
molecules) via photosynthesis in the presence of water and
minerals
Few ecosystems depend entirely on energy extracted from methane,
sulfides, or other inorganic molecules by chemosynthetic
microorganisms
Captured energy is used to produce biomass to sustain life and
provide energy for its growth and development.
A part of this energy is lost as heat and waste molecules.
The common processes for converting energy in chemical substances
into energy useful to sustain life are metabolism and respiration.
Fields of Biology
Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular
level
overlaps with other areas of biology, particularly genetics and
biochemistry
chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between
the various systems of a cell, including the interrelationship of DNA,
RNA, and protein synthesis and learning how these interactions are
regulated
Taxonomy
A phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA
Modern
Classification
1. Archaea (originally
Archaebacteria)
2. Bacteria (originally
Eubacteria)
3. Eukarya (including
protists, fungi, plants,
and animals.)
Intracellular parasites
1. Viruses
2. Viroids
3. Prions
Naming of organisms
The dominant classification system is called
Linnaean taxonomy
Governed by international agreements
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN)
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN)
International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (ICNB)
Ecology
Ecology studies the distribution and abundance of living
Ethology
Ethology studies animal behavior (particularly that of
environment
For any given species, behaviors can be co-operative,
aggressive, parasitic or symbiotic
Matters become more complex when two or more
different species interact in an ecosystem. Studies of this
type are the province of ecology.