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Properties of Life

Unity
 All

modern forms of life display a common set

of characteristics
 Based on biological evolution

Diversity
 Many

types of environments with diverse

organisms

Seven Characteristics of Life

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Cells and organization

Energy use and metabolism
Response to environmental changes
Regulation and homeostasis
Growth and development
Reproduction
Biological evolution
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Evolutionary History
Life began on Earth as primitive cells
3.5-4 bya

Those primitive cells underwent
evolutionary changes that gave rise to the
species we see today

Understanding evolutionary history helps
us understand the structure and function
of an organisms body

Example
Evolutionary change involves
modifications of existing structures

Structures may be modified to serve new
purposes

 Legs

used for walking were modified into a

dolphins flipper or a bats wing

Two mechanisms of evolutionary change

1.

Vertical descent with modification





Progression of changes in a lineage

New species evolve from pre-existing
species by the accumulation of mutations
Natural selection takes advantage of
beneficial mutations


E.g. human color vision

2.

Horizontal gene transfer




Genetic exchange between different species

Relatively rare

Genes that confer antibiotic resistance are

sometimes transferred between different bacteria
species

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Tree or web of life?

Horizontal gene transfer was an important
part of the process that gave rise to
modern species

Tree of life focuses on vertical evolution

Web of life includes the contribution of
horizontal gene transfer

E.g. where does our cellular energy come from?

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Classification
Taxonomy is the grouping of species
based on common ancestry

3 domains

 Bacteria-

unicellular prokaryote
 Archaea- unicellular prokaryote
 Eucarya- unicellular to multicellular
eukaryotes

4 kingdoms


Protista, fungi, plantae and animalia

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Genomes and Proteomes

Genome
 The

complete genetic makeup of an organism

Evolutionary history and relatedness of all living

organisms can be illuminated by genome
analysis
Genomics
 Techniques

used to analyze DNA sequences in

genomes


E.g. which sequences are most closely related?

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Genomes and Proteomes

Proteomes
 The

complete complement of proteins that a

cell or organism can make
 The genome carries the information to make
its proteome

Proteomics
 Techniques

used to analyze the proteome of

a single species and the comparison of
proteomes of different species

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Biology as a scientific discipline

Science is the observation, identification,
experimental investigation, and theoretical
explanation of natural phenomena

The scientific method is used to test
theories

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Investigate life at different levels

Different branches of biology study life at
different levels using a variety of tools.

As new tools become available, they allow
scientists to ask new questions

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Hypothesis or theory?

Hypothesis
 Proposed

explanation for a natural

phenomenon
 Educated guess based on previous
observations or experimental studies

Example


Maple trees drop their leaves in autumn because of

shortened amount of sunlight

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Hypothesis or theory?
Hypothesis must make predictions that
can be shown to be correct or incorrect

Additional observations or experiments
support or reject a hypothesis

A hypothesis is never really proven

 We

may not have found the true explanation

for a phenomenon

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Theory
 Broad

explanation of some aspect of the

natural world that is substantiated by a large
body of evidence
 Allows us to make many predictions
 Also can never be proved true

Due to overwhelming evidence, extremely likely to

be true

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Two key attributes of a theory

1.

2.

Consistency with a vast amount of

known data
Ability to make many correct predictions

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Understanding biology

Curiosity is the key

Not a rigid set of steps
2 general approaches
1.
2.

Discovery-based science
Hypothesis testing

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Discovery-based science
Collection and analysis of data without the
need for a preconceived hypothesis

Goal is to gather information

 Test

drugs to look for action against disease

 Sequence genomes and proteomes

Often leads to hypothesis testing

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Hypothesis Testing/Scientific Method

Five stages
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.

Observations are made regarding natural

phenomena.
These observations lead to a hypothesis that
tries to explain the phenomena. As
mentioned, a useful hypothesis is one that is
testable because it makes specific
predictions.
Experimentation is conducted to determine if
the predictions are correct.
The data from the experiment are analyzed.
The hypothesis is accepted or rejected.
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Common features

Data are often collected in two parallel manners

 Control

and experimental sample

 Differ by only one factor

Data analysis
 Statistically

significant differences
 Apply statistical analyses to determine if the control
and experimental samples are likely to be different
from each other because of the single variable that is
different between the two samples
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If the two sets of data are found not to be

significantly different, we would reject our
hypothesis.

Alternatively, if the differences between
the two sets of data are significant, we
would accept our hypothesis, though it is
not proven

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Cystic Fibrosis
Affects about 1 in every 3,500 Americans

Persons with CF produce abnormally thick
and sticky mucus that obstructs the lungs
and pancreas

Average lifespan for people with CF is
currently in their mid- to late 30s

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1945, Dorothy Anderson determined that

cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder

Discovery-based sciences used to find CF
gene

1989, research groups headed by Lap-Chi
Tsui, Francis Collins, and John Riordan
identified the CF gene

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CF Gene and Hypothesis

Researchers hypothesize that the CF
gene encodes a protein that transports
chloride ions (Cl-) across the membrane of
cells

Led to experiments to test normal cells
and cells from CF patients for their ability
to transport Cl

 CF

cells were found to be defective in chloride

transport
 Transferring a normal CF gene into cells in
the lab corrects this defect
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Results support the hypothesis that the CF gene

encodes a protein that transports Cl- across the plasma
membrane

A mutation in this gene causes it to encode a defective

transporter protein, leading to a salt imbalance

This imbalance affects water levels outside the cell,

which explains the thick and sticky mucus in CF patients

In this example, hypothesis testing has provided a way

to accept or reject an idea regarding how a disease is
caused by a genetic change

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