1.

Chapter1:EnquiringAboutLife
a. Intro
i. AnOrganismsadaptationtoitsenvironmentaretheresult
ofevolution.
Evolution:
Theprocessofchangethathastransformedlife
onEarthfromitsearliestbeginningstothediversityof
organismslivingtoday.(Thefundamentalorganizing
principleofbiology)
ii. ThecentralactivityofBiologyisscientificinquiryabout
thelivingworld
Biology
:Thescientificstudyoflife.
b. Concept1.1:Thethemesofthisbookmakeconnectionsacross
differentareasofBiology.
i. TobestunderstandBiology,thememorisationoffacts
wontdo.Onemustunderstandthegreaterconnectionsthat
aboundtodevelopacoherentviewoflife.
ii. Thebookissplitinto8themes
1. NewPropertiesEmergeatEachLevelinthe
BiologicalHierarchy
a. LevelsofBiologicalOrganization
i. TheBiosphere
Consistsofalllifeonearth,andtheplaces
wherethatlifeexists
ii. Ecosystems
Consistsofallthelivingthingsina
particularareaalongwithallthenonliving

componentsoftheenvironmentwithwhich
thelifeinteracts.
iii. Communities
Thesetofpopulationsthatinhabita
particulararea
iv. Populations
Consistsofalltheindividualsofaspecies
livingwithintheboundsofaspecificarea
v. Organisms
Adiscretelivingthing
vi. OrgansandOrganSystems
Abodypartthatcarriesoutaparticular
functioninthebody(consistofmultiple
tissues)
vii. Tissues
Agroupofcellsthatworktogetherto
performaspecificfunction
viii. Cells
Lifesfundamentalunitofstructureand
function.
ix. Molecules
Isachemicalstructureconsistingoftwoor
moresmallchemicalunits(theseunitsare
referredtoasatoms)
b. EmergentProperties
i. EmergentProperties
Novelpropertiesthatemergeateachstepof

biologicalorganizationthatarenotpresent
andtheprecedinglevel.Duetothe
arrangement
andinteraction
ofpartsastheir
complexityincreases.
c. ThePowerandLimitationsofReductionism
i. Reductionism
(itslimitationisifyou
dissectadeer,itnolongeractslikeadeer)
Theapproachofreducingcomplexsystems
tosimplercomponentsthataremore
manageabletostudy.
Allowsforsmallerquestionstobe
answered,butitislimitedbecauseitdoesn't
allowforthingstobestudiedintheirnatural
habitat
ii. SystemsBiology(
ifthischanges,whatis
thatgoingtodotothewholething
)
Anapproachthatattemptstomodelthe
dynamicbehaviorofwholebiological
systemsbasedonastudyoftheinteractions
amongthesystemsparts.I.e.answerlarge
scalequestions(ex.Howmightadrugthat
lowersbloodpressureaffectthefunctioning
oforgansthroughoutthehumanbody)
2. Theme:OrganismsInteractwithOtherOrganismsand
thePhysicalEnvironment
a. GlobalClimateChange
TheburningoffossilfuelsemittingCO(2)into

theatmosphere,inhibitingtheescapeofheat
fromtheearth
3. Theme:LifeRequiresEnergyTransferand
Transformation
a. Afundamentalcharacteristicoflivingorganisms
istheiruseofofenergytocarryoutlife's
activities.
kineticenergy,theenergyofmotion
4. Theme:StructureandFunctionareCorrelatedatAll
LevelsofBiologicalOrganization
a. Formfitsfunction
5. Theme:TheCellisanOrganismsBasicUnitof
StructureandFunction
a. Thecellisthelowestleveloforganizationthat
canperformalltheactivitiesrequiredforlife.
b. EukaryoticCell
Subdividedbyinternalmembranesintovarious
membraneorganelles
c. ProkaryoticCell
DNAisnotseparatedfromtherestofthecellby
enclosureinamembraneboundednucleus
d. BacteriaandArcheaareProkaryotic.Allother
cellsareEukaryotic.
6. Theme:TheContinuityofLifeinBasedonHeritable
(transmissiblefromparenttooffspring)Informationin
theFormofDNA
i. DNA
geneticmaterial

ii.

Genes
,theunitsofinheritancethattransmit
informationfromparentstooffspring.
b. DNAstructure
i. Achromosomecontains1DNAmolecule
1. Eachhashundredsandthousandsof
genes
2. Thesegenesencodeinfotocreateother
molecules,mostimportantlyproteins
3. Proteins
playstructuralrolesand
establishacellsidentity,arecopied
whenacellreplicates,givingeacha
exactcopy
4. Dnahas2strandscalledchainstheyare
arrangedinadoublehelix.
a. Thechainsaremadeupof4
nucleotidesATCG
b. Sequenceofnucleotidesis
transcribedintoRNAwhichis
translatedintoaspecificprotein
c. Thisprocessiscalled
Gene
Expression
5. Genomics:LargeScaleAnalysisof
DNASequience
a. Genome
:theentirelibraryof
geneticinstructionsthatan
organisminherits

b.
Genomics
thestudyofwholesets
ofgenesratherthansinglegenes.
i. Threedevelopmentsmade
genomicapproachpossible
ii. 1.highthroughputtechthat
analyzedatarapidly
iii. 2.
Bioinfomatics:
theuseof
computationaltoolsdealwith
largeamountsofdata
iv. 3.Theformationof
interdisciplinaryresearch
teams
6. Theme:FeedbackMechanisms
RegulateBiologicalSystems
a. Themostcommonregulatory
processis
negativefeedback
the
accumulationofanendproduct
slowsdownthatprocess.(youget
alotofsomethingsoyouslow
downanddon'tdoittoofast).
b.
Positivefeedback:
anend
productspeedsupitsown
production.Plateletstellother
plateletstocomewhentheyreach
theendoftheirjourney.
7. Evolutiontheoverarchingthemeof
biology.


Themesofthisbook