Dreamlene Jev I.
De Castillo Biochemistry
BS MLS 2B Quiz 1
A synthesis on the evidences that living organisms
possess the different characteristics of living matter
When you look at your surroundings, how do you categorize or group the things you see? One of
the easiest thing to do is to sort them whether they are “Living” or “Non-living.” But how do we exactly
categorize something as living or non-living? What are the properties of organisms that make something
“alive”?
All living organisms share the same characteristics or functions: They are made up of unit
building block called cells; they can reproduce; they are based on the universal genetic code; they grow
and develop; they obtain and use materials and energy; they respond to their environment; they maintain a
stable internal environment and they change over time.
In this paper, we are going to discuss three characteristics of living organisms and provide
evidences that will support these claims.
Living organisms change over time
The most evident theory regarding this characteristic of living organism is the book on evolution
published by Charles Darwin in 1859 titled “On the Origin of Species.” Evolution as defined by Darwin,
is a change in the characteristics of living things over time. Evolution occurs by a process called natural
selection wherein the best adapted characteristics of parents are those that get carried over to their
offspring. With this, major changes and development in the characteristics of species changes over
generations.
The changes in living organisms over time are also evident on fossils. The fossils found in
different parts of the world shows that organisms from the past are not the same as those found today. In
addition, the Anatomy of living organisms also play a big role in this characteristic. Scientists have
discovered that several species have synonymous parts which differ in function that they called
homologous structures. Evolution led to changes in the shapes and sizes of the bones in different species.
Living organisms grow and develop
Every living organism is capable of growing and developing. Multicellular eukaryotes use cell
division during growth and development. A process called mitosis allows the cell to divides into two
cells. Chromosomes in the original cell are replicated to make sure that the two new cells have full copies
of the genetic information. The similarities in primary development of organisms shows that similar genes
are at work. These genes came from a common ancestor and as the embryos of different species grow and
develop, they become more different or they just increase in size.
However, the growth and development of living organisms are not the same things. Growth is the
straightforward increase in size for certain single-celled organisms while development is the
transformation of the organism as it goes through the growth process.
Dreamlene Jev I. De Castillo Biochemistry
BS MLS 2B Quiz 1
Think of humans, a newly born baby has all the features of a fully-grown adult, but they are too
small. As they grow old, the parts of their body increase in size but still maintains all the features that
they are born with. This is growth.
On the other hand, development can be exemplified by the development of butterflies. A butterfly
starts its life as an egg. When the egg hatches, butterfly larvae comes out. Butterfly larvae is what we call
caterpillars. During this stage, they shed their skin four or five times and all they do is eat. Once fully
grown, the caterpillar forms itself into a “pupa” (or chrysalis) in which the caterpillar changes into a
butterfly. They usually hide in areas such as twigs around the host plant. Once the butterfly is ready to
arise, the case around its pupa splits open and waits for its wings to dry, the butterfly pumps a liquid
called hemolymph into them and then transcends into the beautiful world.
Living things respond to their environment
Living organisms detect and react to their environment stimuli in order to survive or protect their
selves. For example, if a person walks outside on a sunny day, his pupils will automatically constrict to
protect his eye from taking in too much light and being damaged. In this case, the body reacts to the
stimulus (the light) to protect the individual.
Another example is phototropism that involves growth toward or away from a light source.
Positive phototropism is growth of an organism towards a light stimulus, in this when the direction of
light is changed, the plant will also change its direction in order to survive. On the other hand, negative
phototropism is growth of an organism away from light stimulus. Phototropism commonly occurs at
plants, but can also occur in other organisms such as fungi.
Just like all the changes that occur outside of our bodies, there are changes in our internal
environment too. For example, our bodies need to keep constant body temperature, glucose level, water
level and so on for the cells to function properly. However, conditions outside our bodies can also affect
our internal balance such temperature, exercise, eating and so on. Thus, homeostasis occurs wherein an
organism maintain balance in its internal environment.
Living organisms also needs to adapt in order to survive. They can adapt biologically, meaning
they alter functions of the body to survive. Let us take the research study of the students in University of
California as an example, bodies of people living at high altitudes such as Tibetans thrive at altitudes
where levels of oxygen are lower than the sea level. Breathing air that thin would cause most people to
get sick, but Tibetans’ bodies have adapted already that enables them to thrive at high altitudes and low
oxygen levels. Organisms can also exhibit behavioral adaptation in which how penguins in Antarctica
crowd together to share their warmth in the middle of winter.
