BIO 1140 - Introduction to Biology Flashcards
What Distinguishes Living Things from
Nonliving Things?
- Cellular Structure
- Growth
- Development
- Reproduction
- Metabolism
- Response to stimuli
- Adaptation
- Homeostasis
- Evolution
- Limited lifespan
What is Biology?
Biology is the scientific study of living things (organisms) both alive and dead (fossils)
What is the Goal of Biology?
discovering and understanding the underlying unity and diversity of the complex processes that make up life
What are some Shared Characteristics between Organisms?
- Similarity in chemical composition, cell structure, cell functions, genetic codes
- composed of a common set of chemical compounds (carbohydrates, fatty acids, nucleic acids, and amino acids)
- contain genetic information which always flows from DNA to RNA and from RNA to protein
- use a universal molecular code to build proteins from their genomic information
- Use the same amino acids to produce proteins
What are All (almost all) Biological Molecules composed of?
Almost all biological molecules are composed of only six types of elements:
- hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur
and similar chemical groups:
- methyl, hydroxyl, carboxyl, carbonyl, phosphoryl, amino and thiol
What is the Three Domain System?
Organisms have common characteristics due to the three domains:
- Eubacteria
- Archaea
- Eukarya
When was the Earth Formed?
Earth was formed around 4.6 billion years ago
When did Life appear on Earth?
Life appeared around 4 billion years ago
What were two Critical Steps for Evolution?
The critical step for the evolution of life was the appearance of nucleic acids
The enclosure of biological molecules by membranes composed of fatty acids was an important step in the evolution of life
How are Nucleic Acids critical for Evolution?
Nucleic acids could reproduce themselves and serve as templates for the synthesis of proteins
What are Liposomes?
Fatty acids make spherical structures called liposomes
What did Primordial Oceans allow?
Allowed membranous structures to envelop complex biological molecules
What did Photosynthesis allow?
Photosynthesis allows some organisms to capture energy from the Sun
Is Aerobic or Anaerobic Metabolism more efficient?
Aerobic metabolism is far more efficient than anaerobic metabolism in extracting energy from nutrient molecules
With the accumulation of oxygen, life began to move to land
How might Eukaryotes have arisen from
Prokaryotes?
Eukaryotes arose with contributions from both bacteria and archaea
- the endosymbiotic theory of the origin of eukaryotic cells
How do Organisms extract Energy and Raw Materials?
- Living organisms obtain nutrients from their environment
- Biochemical reactions break down nutrient molecules