BIOSCI030

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE

COURSE OUTLINE

Introduction
Chemistry of Life
The Cell
Energy Transformation
Gene and Inheritance
Development
Ecology
Evolution
Taxonomy

INTRODUCTION

Biology: scientific study of life and living

organisms, including:

Structure
Function
Growth
Evolution
Distribution
Taxonomy

INTRODUCTION

Why study biology?

Figure 1.5

25 m

Why study biology?

Biology is connected to a great number

of important issues
Environmental problems and solutions
Genetic engineering
Medicine

Many technological advances stem from the

scientific study of life
Evaluating everyday reports in the press about
a large range of subjects requires critical
thinking and some familiarity with many areas
of biology
- In order to understand how rain
forest destruction impacts global
climate, it is important to
understand biology from the
molecular level to the ecosystem
level

The study of life

Extends from the microscopic scale of

molecules and cells to the global scale
of the entire living planet

INTRODUCTION

Biology has many sub-disciplines:

Aerobiology Zoology Cell biology Cryobiology
Ecology Embryology Evolutionary biology
Agriculture
Anatomy Arachnology Astrobiology
Biochemistry Bioengineering Biogeography
Biotechnology Botany Zoology Virology
Physiology Phytopathology Pharmacology
Sociobiology Parasitology Population biology
Oncology Neurobiology Paleontology Synthetic
biology Mammalogy Genetics
Histology

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INTRODUCTION

Five so-called axioms of modern biology:

1. Cells are the basic unit of life
2. Genes are the basic unit of heredity
3. New species and inherited traits are the
product of evolution
4. An organism regulates its internal
environment to maintain a stable and
constant condition
5. Living organisms consume and transform
energy

Living organisms:

Properties of

Life

(a) Order

(d) Regulation

(b) Evolutionary
adaptation
(c) Response to the
environment

(e) Energy
processing

(g) Reproduction

Figure 1.2

(f) Growth and

development

1. Complexity and
Organization

Living things
are made of the
same materials
as everything
else in the
universe

Hierarchy of Life:

atoms

Hierarchy of Life:
Molecules

Water (H2O)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Molecular Oxygen (O2)

Ammonium (NH3)

Sodium Chloride (NaCl)

Inorganic

Hierarchy of Life:

Biological

compounds

Carbohydrate
s

Proteins

Lipid
s

Nucleic

Hierarchy of Life:

cell organelles

Hierarchy of Life:

cell

Is the lowest
level of
organization
that can
perform all
activities
required for life

The Cells Heritable Information

Cells contain chromosomes made partly of

DNA, the substance of genes
Which program the cells production of
proteins and transmit information from
parents
Spermto
celloffspring

Nuclei
containing
DNA

Egg cell
Figure 1.6

Fertilized egg
with DNA from
both parents

Embyros cells
with copies of
inherited DNA

Offspring with traits

inherited from
both parents

The molecular structure of DNA

Contains
information for
almost all cell
activities

Nucleus
DNA
Cell
Nucleotid
e

(a) DNA double helix. This model shows

each atom in a segment of DNA.Made

Figure 1.7

up of two long chains of building

blocks called nucleotides, a DNA
molecule takes the three-dimensional
form of a double helix.

A
C
T
A
T
A
C
C
G
T
A
G
T
A

(b) Single strand of DNA. These geometric shapes and

letters are simple symbols for the nucleotides in a
small section of one chain of a DNA molecule.
Genetic information is encoded in specific sequences
of the four types of nucleotides (their names are
abbreviated here as A, T, C, and G).

Two Main Forms of Cells

All cells share certain characteristics

They are all enclosed by a membrane
They all use DNA as genetic information

There are two main forms of cells

Eukaryotic
Prokaryotic

Hierarchy of Life:

Tissues

Hierarchy of Life:

organ system

Organisms

Each organism
interact with its
environment

Both organism
and environment
are affected by
the interactions
between them

Populations

Communities

Ecosystems

Ecosystem
dynamics include
two major
processes:
Cycling of nutrients, in
which materials
acquired by plants
eventually return to the
soil
Flow of energy (from
sunlight to producers to
concumers)

Energy flows through an ecosystem

Usually entering as sunlight and exiting as
heat
Sunlight
Ecosystem

Producers
(plants and other
photosynthetic
organisms)
Heat
Chemical
energy

Consumers
(including animals)

Figure 1.4

Heat

The Biosphere

Biological systems are much more than

the sum of their parts

A system
Is a combination of components that
form a more complex organization

Emergent Property

Due to increasing complexity

New properties emerge with each step
upward in the hierarchy of life.
E.g. birth rate, death rate is studied at
population level, not organismal level or
molecular level.

Reductionism

Reductionism
Involves reducing complex systems to
simpler components that are more
manageable to study
Example, the study of DNA structure
To study DNA, one have to study heredity, such as
Human Genome Project

2. Evolutionary
adaptation
Change in the genetic
composition of a population
through time

Evolution
Inherited change in the characteristics
of organisms over time
Living things are slowly changing
Process of natural selection results in
change over time
Organisms with favorable genes are
more likely to survive, reproduce, and
pass on those favorable genes

Mechanisms Contributing to
Evolutionary Change

Production of heritable variations

Natural Selection
Chance

Heredity
Transmission of characteristics
from parent to offspring
Instructions from parent to
offspring are passed on in the
form of genes

Heritable variations
Blood type

Dwarfism
Albinism

Natural Selection

Important Components
Variation or variability in inherited traits
in a population
Environmental Factors
Reproductive Success of Some
Individuals

Natural Selection
The process of natural selection leads to
ADAPTATIONS.

evolutionary adaptationinherited characteristic that

enhances an organisms ability to
survive and reproduce in a
particular environment.

Adaptations

The structural, functional, and

behavioral features that contribute
to the success of a species.

Mechanisms for Genetic

Change
Genetic

Recombination
Mutation
Chromosomal
Aberration

Genetic Recombination

Mutation

Sickle cell

Normal RBC

Chromosomal Aberration
XYY

DiGeorge Syndrome

Downs

Klinefelters syndrome

3. Response to the environment

Living things interact with each other
and with the environment
Ecology the study of these
interactions

Hawaiian Monk seals eat fish

Humans eat fish
What if something happened to the fish?

4. REGULATION & HOMEOSTASIS

Living organisms continuously undergo

metabolism in a controlled or regulated
manner to maintain a internal balance or
homeostasis.

Homeostasis
The ability of an open system to regulate its internal
environment to maintain stable conditions by means
of multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustments by
interrelated regulation mechanisms
Example: Mechanism of Thirst; Why do you inhale?

5. Metabolism and Energy Processing

The sum total of the chemical processes
that occur in living organisms, resulting
in growth, production of energy,
elimination of waste material, etc.
Anabolism- build up of complex
molecules
Catabolism- break down of complex
molecules

Cellular Respiration

C6H12O6 + 6O2 6H2O + 6CO2 + energ

Photosynthesis
6H2O + 6CO2 + light C6H12O6 + 6O2

Chemical nutrients cycle within an

ecosystems web
Sun

Energy
flows in
and out
constantly

Inflow
of
light
energy

Loss
of
heat
energy
Air

Organisms

Energy is
dissipated

Chemical
energy

Cycling
of
chemical
nutrients

Soil
Figure 1.7C

ECOSYSTEM

 Autotrophs
Organisms that get their energy by making their
own food (like plants)
Plants capture energy from the sun, use water and
carbon dioxide to make sugars and starches

Heterotrophs
Organisms that take in food to meet their energy
needs
Animals must consume autotrophs (plants), and
other heterotrophs to meet their energy needs

6. REPRODUCTION

One of the fundamental principles of

biology states that life comes only
from living things.

The process by which an organism

multiply by various mechanisms
Asexual
Sexual

Asexual Reproduction

Sexual Reproduction

There is union of
two gametes
(male and
female)

7. GROWTH
and
Developme
nt

Diversity of Life

Figure 1.13

Biologists explore life across its great

diversity of species
Diversity is a hallmark of life

DIVERSITY OF LIFE
Can be arranged into three
Domains

Highest level of taxonomic

classification used by biologists

1. Bacteria
2. Archaea
3. Eukarya

prokaryotes

Phylogenetic tree of
all living things
Based on rRNA gene
data
Showing the
separation of the
three domains
Bacteria
Archaea
Eukaryotes

Described by Carl Woese

Taxonomy
Is the branch of biology that names and classifies
species according to a system of broader and
broader
Species groups
Genus Family
Order
Class
Phylum
Kingdom
Ursus Domain
americanus
(American
black bear) Ursus

Ursidae
Carnivora
Mammalia

Chordata
Animalia

Figure 1.14

Eukarya

Unifying Theory Of Biology

Theory
Comprehensive idea that has great explanatory
power

Theory of Evolution
Postulates that all organisms on the Earth have
descended from a common ancestor or ancestral
gene pool
proceeds through process of natural selection

Charles Darwin

Wrote:

On the Origin
of Species by Natural
Selection

Charles Darwin

Two main concepts:

species living today
descended from ancestral
species
Evolution happens when
populations of organisms with
inherited variations are
exposed to environmental
factors that favor the success
of some individuals over
others

Product of Natural Selection

Are often exquisite adaptations of

organisms to the special circumstances
of their way of life and their environment

So why do we do it?

Science is Latin for to know

Biologists use various forms of inquiry to

explore life

The heart of science is inquiry!

A search for information and explanation, often
focusing on specific questions

Biology blends two main processes of scientific

inquiry
Discovery science
Inductive reasoning

Hypothesis- driven
Deductive reasoning

First approach

In discovery of science, scientists describe

some aspect of the world (natural structures
and processes) as accurately as possible
through observation and use inductive
reasoning to draw general conclusions.

Types of Data

Data
Are recorded
observations
Can be quantitative
or qualitative

Inductive
Reasoning
Scientists derive
generalizations based
Figure 1.24
on large number of
specific observation

Second Approach

In hypothesis-driven:
- Propose hypothesis
- Is a tentative answer to a
well-framed question, an
explanation on trial

- Make deductions
leading
to predictions
- Then test hypothesis

The Scientific Method

Is an idealized process of inquiry

Observation
Question
Hypothesis
Predictions
Tests

Steps of the Scientific

Method
Observation

Question

Hypothesis

Prediction

Test does not

support
hypothesis; revise
hypothesis or
pose new one

Test:
Experiment or
additional
observation

Test supports
hypothesis; make
additional
predictions and
test them

The Flying Squirrel

Step 1: An Observation

When flying squirrels land on a tree they

scramble to the other side.

Step 2: The Question

Why do they do
that? Or more
specifically why do
flying squirrels
always move to the
opposite side of the
tree when they
land?

Step 3
Hypothesis
Squirrels move around
tree to prevent predation

Alternative Hypothesis: Move around tree to avoid bright

moonlight.

Hypothesis

Tentative answer to a question

An educated guess

Alternative Hypothesis
Another possible explanation or
answer to a question

Hypothesis

Two Qualities of a Good Hypothesis

It must be testable
It must be falsifiable

Step 4: Predictions

If squirrels move around the tree to

avoid predation, then squirrels that do
NOT move will be preyed on and those
that do move will not be preyed on.

If the squirrel move around tree to avoid

light then if we observe them landing on
the dark side they should NOT move.

Step 5: The Tests

Ideas?

Results

Predation Experiment
No difference in predation rate between
squirrels that land on one side of the
tree and move and squirrels that do not
move
Original
hypothesis

Squirrels move around

tree to prevent predation

Do our results support or falsify our hypothesis?

Results

Light Experiment
We find that when we watch squirrels
landing on both light and dark sides of
the tree, those that land on the light side
scramble to other side, those on the
dark side dont

Original
hypothesis

Squirrels move around

tree to avoid light

Do results support or falsify our hypothesis?

Limitation of Science

Science cannot address supernatural

phenomena
Because hypothesis must be testable
and falsifiable and experimental results
must be repeatable

END

Dexter Balboa
M.Sc Biology