BSCI 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Thermodynamics, Symbiosis, Chloroplast

• School: University of Maryland
• Department: Biological Sciences Program
• Course: BSCI 105
• Professor: Patricia Shields

Document Summary

We need to find a way to make sure that biology is relevant to our daily lives. Living things all share certain features: consume energy, reproduce, generate order, evolve. Form follows function : inferring function of unfamiliar structures. Thermodynamics: energy can"t be created or destroyed. Life is dependent on carbon cycle: photosynthesis fixes carbon, stores chemical energy (bonds) Transformation: solar energy > chemical energy. Levels of organization: the properties of a thing depend on what is made of, properties of individual parts do not predict properties of a thing, as you increase level of organization new properties appear. Systems biology: processes are regulated, feedback loops, competitive interactions, response to environment. To understand a process, you must understand connections within and between processes: networks. Continuity of life: all cells come from other cells, all life is made of cells. Common ancestry: all organisms evolve from other organisms, all organisms have a single common ancestor. And all organisms have one common ancestor.