Chapter 1

Introduction: Biology Today

PowerPoint Lectures for

Campbell Essential Biology, Fifth Edition, and
Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology,
Fourth Edition
Eric J. Simon, Jean L. Dickey, and Jane B. Reece

Lectures by Edward J. Zalisko

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THE SCOPE OF LIFE

The Properties of Life
Biology is the scientific study of life
The study of biology encompasses a wide scale of
size and a huge variety of life, both past and
present

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Life at Its Many Levels

Biologists explore life at levels ranging from the
biosphere to the molecules that make up cells

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Figure 1.1a

(a) Order

(b) Regulation

(c) Growth and development

(d) Energy processing

Figure 1.1b

(f) Reproduction

(e) Response to the environment

(g) Evolution

Figure 1.2-3

1 Biosphere

2 Ecosystems
3 Communities

4 Populations
5 Organisms
6 Organ Systems
and Organs

9 Organelles

7 Tissues

Nucleus

8 Cells

10 Molecules and Atoms

Atom

Ecosystems
Each organism interacts continuously with its
environment
Organisms interact continuously with the living and
nonliving factors in the environment
All the living organisms in a specific area, along
with all of the nonliving factors with which they
interact, form an ecosystem

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Ecosystems
The dynamics of any ecosystem depend on two
main processes:
Recycling of chemical nutrients
Flow of energy

Within ecosystems
Nutrients are recycled but energy flows through

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Figure 1.3

Outflow
of heat
energy

ECOSYSTEM

Inflow
of light
energy

Consumers
(animals)

Chemical
energy
(food)

Producers
(plants and other
photosynthetic
organisms)

Cycling
of
nutrients

Decomposers
(in soil)

Cell Theory
The cell is the level at which the properties of life
emerge
All organisms are composed of cells
Cells are the lowest level of structure that can
perform all activities required for life
In other words, the smallest living organism is
composed of at least one cell

Cells are the subunits that make up multicellular

organisms such as humans and trees
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Cells
Cells share many characteristics
All cells are enclosed by a membrane that
regulates the passage of materials between the cell
and its surroundings
All cells have ribosomes where proteins are made
Every cell uses DNA as its genetic information

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Prokaryotes versus Eukaryotes

We can distinguish two major types of cells:
1. The prokaryotic cell is
Simpler and usually smaller because it lacks a
nucleus and organelles
Characteristic of bacteria and archaea

2. The eukaryotic cell is

Subdivided by internal membranes into different
functional compartments called organelles, the
largest of which is the nucleus
Found in protists, fungi, plants, and animals
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Figure 1.4

Prokaryotic cell (bacterium)

Smaller
Organelles

Simpler structure
concentrated in
DNA
nucleoid region, which is

not enclosed by membrane

Lacks most organelles

Eukaryotic cell

Larger
More complex
structure

enclosed
Nucleus
by membrane

Contains many

types of organelles

Nucleoid
region

Colorized TEM

Nucleus

Cells and Their DNA

All cells use DNA as the chemical material of
genes, the units of inheritance that transmit
information from parents to offspring
The chemical language of DNA
Is common to all organisms
Consists of just four molecular building blocks with
names that are abbreviated as A, G, C, T
A is for adenine, G for guanine, C for cytosine,
and T for thymine

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Figure 1.5

The four
chemical
building
blocks of
DNA
A DNA molecule

Cells and Their DNA

The entire book of genetic instructions that an
organism inherits is called its genome
The nucleus of each human cell packs two
genomes, one from mom and one from dad, that
are about 3 billion base pairs long

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Life in Its Diverse Forms

Diversity is a hallmark of life
The diversity of known life includes about 1.8
million species that biologists have identified and
named
Estimates of the total number of species range
from 10 million to over 100 million

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Figure 1.7

Grouping Species: The Basic Concept

Biodiversity can be beautiful but overwhelming
Categorizing life into groups helps us deal with this
complexity
Taxonomy is the branch of biology that names and
classifies species
It formalizes the hierarchical ordering of organisms
into broader and broader groups

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The Three Domains of Life

The three domains of life are
Bacteria
Archaea
Eukarya

Bacteria and Archaea have prokaryotic cells

Eukarya have eukaryotic cells

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The Three Domains of Life

Eukarya include
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Animalia
Protists (multiple kingdoms)

Most plants, fungi, and animals are multicellular

Protists are generally single-celled, but large
multicellular seaweeds and kelps (aka algae) are
also placed in this group
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The Three Domains of Life

Bacteria and Archaea are all single-cell prokaryotic
organisms
The Eukarya are distinguished by how they obtain food
Plants produce their own sugars and other foods by
photosynthesis
Fungi are mostly decomposers, digesting dead
organisms
Animals obtain food by ingesting (eating) and digesting
other organisms
The protists dont fit neatly into this scheme because
seaweeds and protozoans are very different
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DOMAIN
BACTERIA

Figure 1.8

DOMAIN EUKARYA

DOMAIN
ARCHAEA

Kingdom Plantae

Kingdom Fungi

Kingdom Animalia

Protists (multiple kingdoms)

EVOLUTION:
BIOLOGYS UNIFYING THEME
The history of life is a saga of a constantly
changing Earth billions of years old
Fossils and other evidence document this history

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Figure 1.9

EVOLUTION:
BIOLOGYS UNIFYING THEME
Life evolves
Each species can be seen as one twig of a
branching tree of life extending back in time
through ancestral species more and more remote
Species that are very similar, such as the brown
bear and polar bear, share a more recent
common ancestor

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Figure 1.10

Giant panda
Spectacled bear

Ancestral
bear

Sloth bear
Sun bear

Common ancestor
of all modern bears

American black bear

Asiatic black bear
Common ancestor of
polar bear and brown bear

Polar bear
Brown bear

30

25

20

15

10

Millions of years ago

The Darwinian View of Life

The evolutionary view of life came into focus in
1859 when Charles Darwin published On the
Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection

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The Darwinian View of Life

Darwins book developed two main points:
1. Species living today descended from a succession
of ancestral species in what Darwin called descent
with modification, capturing the duality of lifes
unity (descent) and
diversity (modification)

2. Natural selection is the mechanism for descent

with modification (evolution)

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Figure 1.11

Observing Artificial Selection

Artificial selection is the selective breeding of
domesticated plants and animals by humans
In artificial selection, humans do the selecting
instead of the environment

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Figure 1.13a

(a) Vegetables descended

from wild mustard
Wild mustard

Cabbage
from
end buds

Brussels
sprouts from
side buds

Kohlrabi
from stems

Kale from
leaves

Broccoli from
flowers
and stems

Cauliflower
from flower
clusters

Figure 1.13b

(b) Domesticated dogs

descended from wolves

Gray wolves

Domesticated dogs

THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE

There are two main scientific approaches:
Discovery science is mostly about describing
nature through verifiable observations and
measurements
What we see through discovery science causes us
to ask questions and seek explanations
This results in hypothesis-driven science where
we try to explain why something is the way it is
We make an educated guess called a hypothesis
and then set out to test it through experimentation
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Figure 1.14a

Figure 1.14b

Hypothesis-Driven Science
Once a hypothesis is formed, an investigator can
use logic to test it
A hypothesis is tested by performing an experiment
to see whether results are as predicted
This deductive reasoning takes the form of If
then logic

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Figure 1.15-3

Observation
The remote
doesnt
work.

Question
Whats
wrong?

Revise.

Experiment
does not
support
hypothesis.

Hypothesis
The
batteries
are dead.

Prediction
With new
batteries, it
will work.

Experiment
Replace
batteries.

Experiment
supports
hypothesis;
make more
predictions
and test.

Theories in Science
What is a scientific theory, and how is it different
from a hypothesis?
A scientific theory is much broader in scope than a
hypothesis
Theories only become widely accepted in science if
they are supported by an accumulation of extensive
and varied evidence

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The Culture of Science

Scientists build on what has been learned from
earlier research
They pay close attention to contemporary
scientists working on the same problem

Cooperation and competition characterize the

scientific culture
Scientists check the conclusions of others by
attempting to repeat experiments
Scientists are generally skeptics
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The Culture of Science

Science has three key features that distinguish it
from other forms of inquiry
Science depends on observations and
measurements that others can verify
It requires that ideas (hypotheses) are testable by
experiments that others can repeat
It also requires that hypotheses be falsifiable, i.e.,
there must be some circumstance that you could
think of where the hypothesis could be proven false

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Science, Technology, and Society

Technology has improved our standard of living
in many ways, but it is a double-edged sword
Technology that keeps people healthier has
enabled the human population to double to
7 billion in just the past 40 years
The environmental consequences of this
population growth may be devastating

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