BIOLOGY
A GUIDE TO THE NATURAL WORLD
Chapter 1
1.1 The Nature of Biology
The Nature of Biology
• Biology is the study of life.
Characteristics of Living Things
• Life is defined by a group of eight
characteristics possessed by living things.
Characteristics of Living Things
1. Assimilate energy.
• Constant stream of energy required to maintain
organized life
• Energy from the environment used to
– Build new structures
– Repair old ones
– Reproduce
Characteristics of Living Things
2. Respond to their environment.
• Some organisms seem “perfectly” suited
to their environments
• Adder snake, deep-sea hydrothermal
microorganisms, hummingbirds
Characteristics of Living Things
3. Maintain a relatively constant internal
environment.
• Homeostasis – state of internal constancy or
equilibrium
• Your body must maintain an internal
temperature of 37°C (98.6°F)
– Go outside when it’s cold and your body shivers to
keep warm
– On a cold day, your lips and fingertips may turn
blue as blood is diverted from the body surface
Characteristics of Living Things
4. Reproduce
– Asexual – organism produces offspring virtually
identical to itself
• Bacteria, some plants and fungi
– Sexual – genetic material from 2 individuals unites
to form new third individual
• Benefit of tremendous variation
• Widespread among plants, fungi, and animals
– Some organisms can reproduce either way
depending on the conditions
Adaptation
• Adaptation – inherited characteristic or
behavior that enables an organism to survive
and reproduce successfully in a given
environment
• 2 important facts
1. Populations produce more offspring than can
survive
2. Sexual reproduction results in genetic variability
• Mutations (changes in DNA) occur
• Natural selection – enhanced reproductive success of
certain individuals from a population based on
inherited characteristics
– Individuals with the better combinations of genes survive
and reproduce
– These individuals make up more of the population over
time
– When the environment changes, different combinations of
traits may be better
• Evolution – change in genetic makeup of a population
– Natural selection is one mechanism of evolution
Characteristics of Living Things
5. Possess an inherited information base, encoded
in DNA, that allows them to function.
The Cell’s Heritable Information
• Cells contain chromosomes made partly of
DNA, the substance of genes
– Which program the cells’ production of proteins and
transmit information from parents to offspring
Sperm cell
Nuclei
containing
DNA
Fertilized egg Embyro’s cells
with DNA from with copies of
both parents inherited DNA Offspring with traits
Egg cell
inherited from
both parents
Characteristics of Living Things
6. Are composed of one or more cells.
• All cells share certain characteristics
– They are all enclosed by a membrane
– They all use DNA as genetic information
• There are two main forms of cells
– Eukaryotic
– Prokaryotic
• Eukaryotic cells
– Are subdivided by internal membranes into various
membrane-enclosed organelles
• Prokaryotic cells
– Lack the kinds of membrane-enclosed organelles
found in eukaryotic cells
EUKARYOTIC CELL PROKARYOTIC CELL
DNA
(no nucleus)
Membrane
Membrane
Cytoplasm
Organelles
1 µm
Nucleus (contains DNA)
Characteristics of Living Things
7. Are evolved from other living things.
Characteristics of Living Things
8. Are highly organized compared to inanimate
objects.
• Some properties of life
(b) Evolutionary
adaptation
(a) Order
(c) Response to the
environment
(e) Energy
processing
(d) Regulation
(f) Growth and (g) Reproduction
development
Life is Hierarchical
• Life is organized in a hierarchical manner,
ranging in increasing complexity from atoms to
molecules to organelles, cells, tissues, organs,
organ systems, organisms, populations,
communities, ecosystems, and the biosphere.
• From the biosphere to organisms
1 The biosphere
• From cells to molecules
9 Organelles
1 µm
Cell
8 Cells
Atoms
10 µm 10 Molecules
7 Tissues
50 µm
6 Organs and organ systems
Life is Hierarchical
atom Molecule organelle cell tissue organ organ system organism population community ecosystem biosphere
(hydrogen (water) (nucleus) (neuron) (nervous tissue) (brain) (nervous system) (sea lion) (colony) (giant kelp (southern California (Earth)
forest) coast)
1.2 Special Qualities of Biology
Special Qualities of Biology
• Until the early nineteenth century, biology was
largely a descriptive science that mainly
catalogued and described the Earth’s living
things.
Special Qualities of Biology
• Biology’s subject matter—the living world—is
notable for its complexity and diversity
compared to other aspects of the natural world
(such as stars and atoms).
Special Qualities of Biology
• Biology does not deal in universal rules to the
extent that a discipline such as physics does;
instead, biological research may focus on
particular species, processes, or portions of the
living world.
Biology’s Chief Unifying Principle
• Biology’s chief unifying principle is evolution,
which can be defined as the gradual
modification of populations of living things
over time.
• This modification sometimes results in the
development of new species.
Biology’s Chief Unifying Principle
• Evolution provides the means for making sense
of the forms and processes seen in living things
on Earth today.
Biology’s Chief Unifying Principle
Biology’s Chief Unifying Principle
• Many stinging insects with black and yellow
stripes look alike because of the general
protection this provides from predators
Biology’s Chief Unifying Principle
