BIOL 101 1st Edition Lecture 1 Outline of Current Lecture What is Biology Unifying Themes of Biology Diversity and Unity in Life Note This lecture was short due to the review of the syllabus that occurred beforehand the syllabus can be found on the homepage of this course Current Lecture What is Biology Biology is the study of life It can be studied at many different levels a Biochemistry b Cell biology c Genetics d Marine biology e Neuroscience Unifying Themes of Biology How do we relate all of these branches together Knowing these themes helps organize information and remember it throughout the course 1 Life is organized on many structural levels a Always start at the simplest levels and increase complexity b Atoms molecules macromolecules cell structures cells tissues organs whole organism populations communities ecosystems 2 Emergent Properties a As the structures become more complex newer and more complex properties emerge 3 Cellular Basis of Life a This is also known as the Cell Theory and it has two parts i All living things are comprised of cells ii All cells come from other cells can t just grow a cell 4 Heritable Information a DNA contains the genetic information b Information in the DNA flows in 2 ways i Parent to offspring DNA is what moves from the parent directly to the offspring ii DNA to RNA to Proteins proteins are what determine what an organism is and what it can do DNA has the code to make those proteins 5 Structure and Function a It is the correlation between structure and function that determines what a molecule looks like b Essentially what a molecule looks like determines what it can and can t do Diversity and Unity There is unity in the diversity of life because of the aforementioned 5 themes 1 Estimated 30 million different species exist but all share certain traits a Genetic codes these are the same in all living things b Glycolipis chemical reactions that utilize nutrition from food to produce readily available energy 2 The Theory of Evolution a This is the greatest unifying theme in Biology b It explains both the unity and diversity in life i Unity every living organism came from the same common ancestor ii Diversity living things are regional meaning they have all evolved and adapted to a certain environment
View Full Document
Unlocking...