DR. ABDULLAH G.

ARIJO

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

BIOLOGY AND ITS MAJOR FIELDS

Biology is a natural science, which deals with the study of living organisms. The
living organisms have many forms. Some are single cellular prokaryotic and
others are multicellular eukaryotic organisms. Biology covers all.
In early days life living organisms were divided into two forms i.e. Plants and
Animals. Hence, in early days biology had only two branches (1) Botany: dealing
with plants and (2) Zoology: dealing with animals.
Later on, as the scientific knowledge increased, living organisms were divided
into 5 kingdoms, which are as under

1. KINGDOM MONERA
In this kingdom, only those organisms are included which are made up
of single cell and their cell is prokaryotic in nature (cell without
nucleus). In this kingdom, the main examples are bacteria, and
cynobacteria

2. KINGDOM PROTISTA
In this kingdom, those plant and animal organisms are included which
are made up of single cell and their cell is eukaryotic in nature (cell
with nucleus). In this kingdom the example from plant side is Euglena
and from animals side Paramecium etc.

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

3. KINGDOM FUNGI
Fungi is a very large kingdom of single and multicellular eukaryotic
organisms. In this kingdom, the organisms which are included are non-
chlorophyllus, have a cell wall different than plants and have multi-
nucleated cells (coenocytic). In previous time, fungi were classified
with plants, but later on it was realized that fungi are altogether
different organisms, hence a new kingdom was established for them.
The main examples for fungi are multi-cellular Mush rooms
(Biologically named as Agaracus) and single cellular yeas fungi, which
are used in making backing powder.

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

4. KINGDOM PLANTAE
In this kingdom all multi-cellular eukaryotic plants are included. They
contain cell wall, chlorophyll, and are autotrophs in nature.

5. KINGDOM ANIMALIA
All multicellular eukaryotic animals are included in this kingdom.
Animals do not have cell wall and chlorophyll and are heterotrophs in
nature.

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

BIOLOGY AND ITS BRANCHES

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
It is the most modern branch of biology which deals with the study of
structure and functions of those molecules which are involved in the making of
cell and its various parts, such as mitochondria, plastids etc. Without
understanding of molecular biology, the mechanism of life may not be properly
understood

MICROBIOLOGY
There are a very big number of organisms, which are very small and may
only be seen with the help of microscope. Study of such organisms (for example
virus and bacteria) is done in microbiology.

MARINE BIOLOGY
It is estimated that 75 % of earth contains water and much of it is marine
water. Life is not only found on earth but much of it lives in marine water. Study of
organisms, which live in marine water, is done in Marine biology.

FRESH WATER BIOLOGY

4 percent of total water available on earth is fresh water. Main examples of
fresh water are ponds, lakes and rivers. Many plant and animal organism also
live in fresh water, hence their study is called fresh water biology.

PARASITOLOGY
Many organisms live as parasites in or on other animals called hosts. The
parasites not only obtain their food from host, but may cause dangerous
diseases. These organisms are studied in Parasitology. The knowledge of
parasitology helps in the treatment and control of parasitic diseases.

HUMAN BIOLOGY
This branch of biology gives us complete understanding of human beings
and their biological systems, such as anatomy, physiology, embryology,
evolution, genetics and general health.

SOCIAL BIOLOGY
This branch of biology deals with the study of interactions between the
individuals of populations or different animal species and their impact on each
other.

BIOTECHNOLOGY
This branch of biology deals with the use of biological techniques towards
the betterment of human kind. Biotechnology helps us in producing disease free
fruits, vegetables and crops. It also helps us to solve problems of food deficiency
by improving the breeding and production potential of animals

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

LEVEL OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

The biosphere is the region on, below, and above the Earth's
surface where life exists. Living things can be found well into the atmosphere, the
deepest parts of the ocean, and at least in some areas, microbes live in rock several
kilometers below the surface of the earth.

The Earth contains numerous ecosystems. Ecosystems are

distinguishable groups of species and the abiotic(non-living) components of the
environment with which the living creatures interact. Examples of ecosystems include
ponds, forests, prairies.

A community is all the populations of different species

living and interacting together in a distinct area. (e.g: all the species in a prarie)
Abiotic means the nonliving parts of this distinct area which interact with the
community. These two make up the ecosystem. For instance the particles of
sand silt or clay in prairie soil are abiotic components of the prairie ecosystem.

Species is the technical name given for a kind of

organisms for example all people are considered to be one species distinct from
other primates based on common appearance and more importantly that all
races can and do interbreed with each other.

A population is group of freely interacting and breeding

individuals of the same species. For example, all the bull frogs in a pond can be
considered a population of bullfrogs. Typically populations are subdivided into
smaller groups: a pack of wolves, pride of lions, colony of ants.

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

The organism or individual is that level of biological

organization that has its own distinct existence as a complex, self-reproducing
unit. We are multicellular organisms in that we are made of many highly
specialized cells, which cannot exist independently of other cells in the organism.
Many organisms are unicellular, that is consisting of a single independent cell.

Multicellular organisms, especially animals typically are

organized into organ systems, groups of organs that function together to carry
out broad sets of functions. For instance an organ system in humans is the
digestive system. Some of the organs in the digestive system are the stomach,
liver, small intestine, and pancreas.

Organs are groups of tissues organized together to carry

out a particular set of functions. Organs typically have several kinds of tissue.
The stomach has an inner lining of tissue that secretes digestive enzymes
outside the stomach has several layers of muscle and connective tissue.

A tissue is a group of distinct and similar cells that carry

out a specific set of functions. For example, muscle tissue is for contraction.
Connective tissue is tissue consisting of cells surrounded by a large amount of
non-living material. Nerve tissue is for the conduction of nerve impulses and
secretion of specialized chemicals called neurotransmitters.

The cell is the smallest unit of biological organization that

biologists consider alive. All true cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane,
carry out complex chemical reactions, and are at least potentially capable of self-
reproduction. Cells come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Not all cells have
a nucleus, but again all true cells have genetic material in the form of DNA.

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

Organelles ("little organ") area specialized structures

inside of a cell. Often organelles are "membrane bound" (surrounded by a
plasma membrane) but not always! Examples of organelles you will be come
familiar with are the nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, chloroplast,
cilium, and vacuole. The line between organelles and molecular assemblies is
not clear. Sometimes the ribosome is not considered an organelle because it's
not a membrane bound structure.

Molecular assemblies are large organized sets of

molecular units that make up parts of organelles. For example one common
macromolecular assembly is the microtubule, which important in forming
structures in the cell related to maintaining the cell structure or related to cell
movement. The cell (plasma) membrane that surrounds many organelles, and
the cell, is a highly organized molecular assembly.

Macromolecules are large molecules consisting of many

subunits. Good examples are starch molecules which consist of many glucose units,
(Glucose is a simple sugar) and proteins some of which consist of 1,000 or more amino
acids. amino acids and proteins.

By small molecules I mean those molecules that are the

small building blocks from which larger molecules are made. Some of the basic
building blocks include; glucose, glycerol, amino acids, fatty acids, nucleotides.
Some of these smaller molecules have other functions than as building blocks.

Atoms are the smallest unit of matter that has the

chemical properties of a particular chemical element. Atoms of an element have
the same number of protons and electrons but two atoms of the same element
may differ in terms of the number of neutrons. Most of the atom is empty space,

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

in the center is the nucleus with the protons and neutrons, "Orbiting" the nucleus
are the electrons.

Neutrons and protons are in the atomic nucleus. Protons have

a positive electrical charge, neutrons have no charge. Electrons have a negative
electrical charge. Electrons occur in only certain energy levels or shells and only so
many electrons can occupy each energy level. An important concept is that electrons
can carry and release energy. The last subatomic particle you need is the photon. A
photon is a packet of light energy. It has no mass moves at the speed of light and is
associated with electrons in that electrons can absorb and release photons.

BIOLOGICAL METHODDS
Knowledge of biology is not only a thought of a scientist. It is actually out come of
observations, experiments and confirmation of the facts by many researchers.
Before a scientist says any thing, he has to go through following procedures

Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a statement of scientist based on his observations. Hypothesis
may or may not be correct. That is why it is tested on the basis of experiments.

Inductive Reasoning
It is a method in which scientist uses fact to reach a general conclusion. Inductive
reasoning is mainly based on experiments, which may prove the hypothesis.

Deductive reasoning
Whenever an experiment is conducted, there are many ifs and buts. These kinds
of things create a lot of fuss and confusion. It is therefore necessary for any
scientist to check and re-check his hypothesis through repeated experiments. If
the results of experiments are same, a theory is proposed. The theory may be
again tested under different situations. If a theory is proved true under all
circumstances, it than becomes a law.

MALARIA
Old Concept

Malaria is actually a fever during which, the patient fells chill. In old days, it was
thought that malaria is caused due to bad air, that is why this name was fixed
which means Mala= bad Aria=air. The hypothesis of ancient people was that
Malaria is caused due to bad air.

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

New Concept

Laveron (1878) who was a doctor in French army rejected the old hypothesis. He
prepared blood sides of healthy and malarial patients and found plasmodium
parasites in the patients suffering from malaria. In 1897 Ronald Ross discovered
plasmodium from the stomach of female Anopheles mosquito. These findings
clearly indicated that Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasite and is
transmitted to humans through mosquitoes, which are vector of malaria.
The findings of Laveron have been tested many times and it has become a fact
that malaria is caused by plasmodium parasite.

MALARIA FACT SHEET

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by a one-celled parasite known as

Plasmodium. The parasite is transmitted to humans by the bite of the female
Anopheles mosquito. The Plasmodium parasite spends its life cycle partly in
humans and partly in mosquitoes. (A) Mosquito infected with the malaria parasite
bites human, passing cells called sporozoites into the humans bloodstream. (B)
Sporozoites travel to the liver. Each sporozoite undergoes asexual reproduction,
in which its nucleus splits to form two new cells, called merozoites. (C)
Merozoites enter the bloodstream and infect red blood cells. (D) In red blood
cells, merozoites grow and divide to produce more merozoites, eventually
causing the red blood cells to rupture. Some of the newly released merozoites go
on to infect other red blood cells. (E) Some merozoites develop into sex cells
known as male and female gametocytes. (F) Another mosquito bites the infected
human, ingesting the gametocytes. (G) In the mosquitos stomach, the
gametocytes mature. Male and female gametocytes undergo sexual
reproduction, uniting to form a zygote. The zygote multiplies to form sporozoites,
which travel to the mosquitos salivary glands. (H) If this mosquito bites another
human, the cycle begins again.

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

APPLICATIONS OF BIOLOGY
During last couple of centuries, our knowledge of biology has expanded at a fast
rate. Two hundred years ago, the average person in UK had life expectancy of
about 4 5years. Tuberculosis, small pox, cholera, plague and typhoid all have
taken millions of human beings to graveyards. People did not know any thing
about bacteria or virus, there was no effective sewage treatment and clean water
was a rare commodity. Malnutrition was common: many people survived by
growing of their own crops but they knew nothing about photosynthesis or plant
physiology.
At the time of millennium, we take for granted many of the greatest advances in
biology and medicine. Relatively few people in the more developed countries
now die from diseases caused by other organisms. The average life expectancy
of someone born in UK is currently about 80 years. Many killer disease are either
very rare or have been controlled completely, as in case of Small pox.
In modern times, treatment of diseases has become possible by chemotherapy
and radiotherapy.
With increase in knowledge, many targets have been achieved. Disease free
crops, vegetables and fruits have been introduced. In order to increase milk and
meat production, the potential of animal breeds have been increased.

HYDROPONICS

Hydroponics may be defined as : cultivation of plants in nutrient solutions

without use of soil. This kind of soil less cultivated of plants began in the 1930s

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

as an outgrowth of the culture techniques used by plant physiologists in plant

nutrition experiments. This type of cultivation has many advantages such as
1. It is best to control weed plants.
2. It is best to control those diseases which are produced due to soil
3. This method saves the area for cultivation
4. In addition to the dry land more area is available for growing crops etc.

WHAT IS CLONING?
Cloning is an asexual method of creating an exact copy of living cells, organs
and organisms. The copies produced through cloning are 100 percent same of
the organism, which has been cloned.
Cloning in not a new thing. It occurs in nature since centuries. Many organisms in
nature reproduce by cloning. Scientists have only used cloning techniques in the
laboratory to create copies of cells or organisms. Many people are concerned
about the ethical aspect of cloning, but fact is that through cloning, many
problems of human beings may be solved. For example, through cloning, many
diseases may be treated. Insulin may be cloned to control diabetic disease.
Growth hormones may be cloned to save some one from dwarfism. Through
cloning, body organs may also be cloned and used in transplantation.

HOW CLONING IS DONE

Cloning is a very simple method, which may be explained through following
charts.

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

Chart No.1

Chart No.2

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

Chart No. 3

Chart No. 4

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

Chart No. 5

Chart No. 6

BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AND PEST MANAGEMENT

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a recently developed technology for pest

control, which is, developed to control the harmful insects and reduce the use of
pesticides. To achieve this target, various combinations of chemical, biological,
and physical controls are employed. In the past, pesticides were applied routinely
whether needed or not. Now we know that there are many insects and beneficial
parasite and predator, which may be used to kill the actual harmful insects. The

ARIJOS BIOLOGY
 DR. ABDULLAH G. ARIJO

control of harmful creatures through biological methods is highly useful because

through this, the environmental problems may be minimized, and farmers and
society as a whole may take significant benefits.

ARIJOS BIOLOGY