What is Biology?

Nothing Lives without Energy

• ENERGY - a capacity to do work, energy drives all
• it is the scientific study of living things, which
the molecular events in a cell
we call organisms
• METABOLISM - capacity to obtain and convert
• Biology is the science of life. Its name is derived
energy from its surroundings and use energy to
from the Greek words "bios" (life) and "logos"
maintain itself, grow and produce more cells
(study).
• Biology, like other science, is based on
LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION
systematic observations, hypotheses,
predictions and observational and experimental
tests.
• Biologists study the structure, function, growth,
origin, evolution and distribution of living
organisms.
Organism

• Living organisms share many characteristics that

allow us to distinguish them from the nonliving
world:
• Organism consist of one or more cells
• Organism are constructed of th same laws of
energy
• Organism engage in metabolism; they acquired
and use energy and materials to survive and
reproduce
• Organism sense and make controlled responses
to their internal and external environment
• Heritable instructions encoded in DNA give
organism their capacity to grow and reproduce.
• Characterisitics that define a population can
evolve.
INTERDEPENDECIES AMONG ORGANISMS
NOTHING LIVES WITHOUT DNA • Energy is the capacity to do work.
• A nutrient is a type of atom or molecule that
• it is in the molecular level differences between
has an essential role in growth and survival and
living and non living things start to emerge.
that an organism cannot make for itself.
• You will never find a rock made of nucleic acids,
• Producers acquire energy and simple raw
proteins, carbohydratesand lipids.
materials from environmental sources and make
• In nature, only cells build these molecules.
their own food. (e.g. Plants produce energy by
• Cell as the smallest unit of life has the signature the process of photosynthesis)
molecule which is the “nucleic acid” known as • Consumers cannot make their own food; they
DNA. get energy and nutrients indirectly—by eating
Molecules of Life - DNA producers and other organisms
• It is a one-way flow, because with each transfer,
• DNA holds instructions for assembling a variety of some energy escapes as heat.
proteins from smaller molecules, the amino acids.
• Enzymes are among proteins.
• When these worker molecules get an energy
boost, they swiftly build, split and rearrange the
molecules of life.
• RNAs to turn DNA instructions into proteins
The Nature of Biological Inquiry
SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY
• Scientific Methodology is the process of
observation, speculation, hypothesis,
prediction, and experimentation is a
cornerstone of modern science, although
scientists may initiate their research at several
different points.
• Answers gleaned through experimentation lead
to new questions, more hypotheses, further
experiments, and expanding knowledge.
Properties of Water Molecule
Chemical Foundation of Cells Water's Temperature-stabilizing effects
Chemistry helps us understand the nature of all the – cells consist of water. They release a lot of
substances that make up cells, organisms and the Earth, heat energy by metabolism. If it weren't for water
its waters and the atmosphere hydrogen bonds, they might cook in their own juices
• Temperature - is a measurement of molecular
Most common elements in organism are: motion
1. oxygen • Evaporation - heat energy converts liquid water
2. carbon to gaseous state.
3. hydrogen • Properties of Water Molecule
4. nitrogen Water's cohesion
Organisms also have lesser amounts of many other – life also depends on water's cohesion
elements, such as: – cohesion means something has a capacity to resist
1. calcium rupturing when placed under tension - that is,
2. phosphorus stretched.
3. potassium Water's Solvent properties
4. sulfur – water is an excellent solvent, for ions and
polar molecules easily dissolve it.
 – A dissolved substance is known as solute. 2. Oligosaccharide/Disaccharide
– In general, we say that a substance is – short-chain carbohydrates
dissolved after water molecules cluster around – Oligo means “a few”
ions or molecules of it and thereby keep them – disaccharides consist only two sugar units
dispersed in fluid. – ex. Lactose
Acid, Bases and Buffers » a sugar in milk, has one glucose and one
• pH scale galactose unit
– when some substances dissolve in water, they – Sucrose
release hydrogen ions (H+) » the most plentiful sugar in nature, has a
– Hydrogen can interact with other molecules and glucose + fructose unit
changed their properties 3. Polysaccharide
– the complex carbohydrates
– straight or branched chains of many sugar
monomers of the same or different types.
– Ex. cellulose, starch and glycogen

• Lipids
– are nonpolar hydrocarbons
– they resist in dossolving water but easily dissolve
Carbon Compounds in Cells in nonpolar substances
• Organic Compounds – cells use different lipids as energy stores,structural
– are molecules containing carbon and at least one materials
hydrogen atom – components:
• Cells 1. Fats and fatty acids
– are define partly by their capacity to assemble the 2. phospolipids
organic compounds called carbohydrates, lipids, 3. sterol
proteins and nucleic acids (these are the molecule 4. waxes
life)
– cells assemple biological molecules from pools of 1. Fats and Fatty Acids
smaller organic compounds, including simple • lipids known as fats have one, two or three
sugars, fatty acids, amino acids and nucleotides. acids attached to glycerol.
• Carbohydrates • has backbone of thirty-six carbon atoms
– are the most abundant biological molecules of life • Triglycerides, or neutral fats, have a glycerol
– most carbohydrates are consist of carbon, head and three fatty acid tails, they are
hydrogen, and oxygen in a ratio of 1:2:1 (CH2O) major energy reservoirs.
– 3 main classes 2. Phospolipids
1. Monosaccharides • has glycerol backbone, two fatty acid tails
2. Oligosacharides and hydrophilic head with a phospate
3. Polysaccharides group
• “Saccharide” - greek word meaning sugar • phospolipids are the main materials of cell
1. Monosaccharide membranes, which have two layers of
– meaning one sugar monomer (simple sugar) lipids
– is the simplest carbohydrate 3. Sterols/Steroids
– dissolve easily in water • lipids with no fatty acids
– most organisms use it as their main energy • have a rigid backbone of four-together
source carbon rings
– ex. Ribose and deoxyribose, the sugar unit of • eukaryotic cells have sterols in their
RNA and DNA membrane
 • ex. cholesterol is the most common type in • Fourth/ Quartenary protein structure
tissues of animals consists of two or more polypeptide chains joined
• ex. cholesterol gets remodeled into by hydrogen bonds. Covalent bonds, disulfied
compounds including vitamin D, steroids, bridges, and their interactions stabilize it.
and bile salts
Steroid Functions

Cholesterol Important component of cell

membranes, especially that of nerve
cells; raw material or precursor of
other steroids. Found abundantly in
the human body

Bile acids When in the form of bile salts, they

help in the emulsification and digestion
of fat

Adrenocortical Hormones synthesized in the cortex of

hormones (cortisol adrenal glands that are involved in
and aldosterone) stress response

Estrogen and Female reproductive hormones

progesterone

Testosterone Male reproductive hormone

Calciferol (Vitamin Facilitates the absorption of calcium

D2) and phosphate from the small intestine
Denaturation - Undo the structure
Ecdysone Hormones that cause ecdysis or • is the breaking weak bonds of a protein or any
molting in arthropods
other large molecule disrupts its three-dimensional
shape
4. Waxes • ex. weak hydrogen bonds are sensitive to
• have a long-chain fatty acids increases and decreases in temperature and pH.
• firm consistency; all water-repelling and
lubricating substances NUCLEOTIDES AND NUCLEIC ACIDS
• ex. bees use beeswax to construct Nucleotides
honeycomb – small organic compounds that serve as energy
carriers, chemical messengers and subunits
Proteins (Amino Acids) for coenzymes and for nucleic acids
Protein Level of Structuring – serve as chemical messengers between cells and
• Primary protein Structure of cytoplasm
is the sequence of different kinds of amino Nucleic Acid
acids along a polypeptide chain – small organic compounds that serve as energy
• Secondary protein structure carriers, chemical messengers and subunits
local regions along the length of a polypeptide for coenzymes and for nucleic acids
chain twist and fold into helical coils, sheet-like – serve as chemical messengers between cells and
arrays of strands and loops. of cytoplasm
• Tertiary protein structure
a polypeptide chain or parts of it becomes
organized into domains: structurally stable, compact
units that may have distinct functions.
• The pentose (five-carbon) sugar in RNA is ribose
while in DNA is deoxyribose.
• The nitrogenous base is either a double-ringed
purine or a single-ringed pyrimidine.
➢ Adenine (A)
➢ Guanine (G)
➢ Thymine (T)
➢ Cytosine (C)
➢ Uracil (U)
DNA STRUCTURE
• Each DNA molecule consists of two polynucleotide
strands.
• As the position of the sugar and phosphate groups
that form
• the two strands of DNA are in opposite directions,
the two strands of DNA are said to be anti-
parallel. The two strands are then coiled together
to form a double helix.
• The structure of the double helix is held together
by hydrogen bonds formed between the purine
bases on one strand and the opposite pyrimidine
bases on the other strand.
• A↔T, G ↔C
RNA STRUCTURE
There are three types of RNA:
– ribosomal RNA (rRNA) – found in
ribosomes where proteins are made
– Messenger RNA (mRNA) - provides
information for making proteins
– transfer RNA (tRNA) - brings amino
acids (raw materials) to the protein
factories