Lecture 4

Question 1

6 key attributes of life

Answer 1

Order, Reproduction, Growth and development, Energy utilization, Response to the environment, and Evolutionary adaption

Question 2

What is life (Biology)?

Answer 2

uses the combination of certain characteristics as signs of life, like metabolism, growth, reaction to stimulus, reproduction, etc. (every single one is not enough e.g. fire grows & breaths oxygen, crystals reproduce…)

Question 3

What is life (Darwinian Evolution)?

Answer 3

is another main feature of life (even valid for viruses)

Question 4

What is life (Physics)?

Answer 4

Physics uses entropy (level of discorder) as parameter, life is “negative entropy” (Schroedinger) i.e. it is reducing its own entropy at the expense of external sources

Question 5

Key chemical ingredients of earth?

Answer 5

Life is a self-sustained set of chemical reactions based on + carbon (C) as the key chemical element and + water (H2O) as the key solvent

Question 6

Most common elements in the universe?

Answer 6

H, C, N, O are the most common elements in just about every object in the
universe.

Question 7

Why are abundances of elements so universal?

Answer 7

Hydrogen: has been around from the beginning
Carbon, oxygen: produced in red giant stars, which later explode as supernovae

Question 8

Metabolism

Answer 8

needs sources of carbon and energy. All cells use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as the basic energy currency inside the cell.

Question 9

All life on Earth…

Answer 9

Uses ATP and is DNA-based -> we all share a common ancestor

Question 10

DNA macromolecule:
genetic information

Answer 10

DNA’s structure is a double-stranded helix, and it resembles the look of a twisted ladder. The sugar and phosphates are nucleotide strands that form the long sides. The nitrogen bases are the rungs.

Question 11

What does T pair with?

Answer 11

A

Question 12

What does G pair with?

Answer 12

C

Question 13

DNA replication process?

Answer 13

1. DNA double helix
2. Strands separate
3. Each strand serves as a template for a new complementary strand
4. Two identical “daughter” DNA molecules

Question 14

What is a gene?

Answer 14

Basic unit of heredity in a living organism; genes hold the information to build and maintain cells and pass genetic traits to offspring.

Question 15

What domain is animals and plants?

Answer 15

Eukarya

Question 16

What is prebiotic chemistry?

Answer 16

Organic chemistry and aqueous solution, under plausible conditions of the primitive terrestrial environment, leading to compounds of biological interest

Question 17

What was the science goal of the Miller-Urey experiment?

Answer 17

to simulate the formation of monomers, like amino acids

Question 18

Natural selection is the name given to

Answer 18

The mechanism by which advantageous traits are preferentially passed on from parents to offspring

Question 19

How does Darwinian evolution work?

Answer 19

By completely random selection of mutations that turn out to be advantageous for the survival of an organism

Question 20

What is the evidence that supports the theory that all (current) life on Earth has a common ancestor?

Answer 20

All life uses DNA to encode the genetic information and uses the molecule ATP to store and release energy