L1: Introduction

Question 1

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what do all living things have in common?

Answer 1

• self-organize, grow and develop
• utilize materials and energy
• respond to their environment
• reproduce and pass their traits to offspring
• evolve (change slowly) in response to their
  environment
• are made of cells

Question 2

cell theory -1838

Answer 2

cells are the universal building blocks of all living tissues

Question 3

where does the diversity of life come from?

Answer 3

theory of evolution - all species are derived from variants of earlier species by selection of the fittest (Charles Darwin)

Question 4

All life has a common origin about 3B yrs ago (last universal common ancestor - LUCA)

Answer 4

how do we know this:
* DNA sequences of all organisms are related
* The basic chemistry of all cells is similar
* The fundamental processes are similar (“are evolutionarily conserved

implication of this fact:
What you learn about one type of cell will likely be true in other cell type

Question 5

prokaryote characteristics (bacteria + archaea)

Answer 5

Single-cell organisms
(have not evolved multicellularity!)
* No nucleus
* No membrane-bound organelles
* Biochemically diverse
* Evolutionarily very successful

Question 6

what theory explains the emergence of the eukaryotic cell -> last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA)

Answer 6

Theory of Endosymbiosis - two prokaryotes merged to form a eukaryotic cell with mitochondria