BSC-2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Stethoscope, Arteriole, Basophil
2 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Function: has a strutural (anatomical) basis at the organ, cellular & molecular levels. Hierarchical levels of structural organization in a complex - emergent properties. Physical laws (hydrodynamics in this case) constrain the evolution of biological structures. Physical constraint in simple, multicellular organisms (no circulatory system) Distance over which di usion is an e ect transport mechanism (at least for small molecules) > high surface area to volume ration. In humans, or very very large cells, di usion is not an e cient process. It cannot supply all of the oxygen and food and nutrient molecules that you need, and it cannot remove all of the carbon dioxide that you need . You need a respiratory system and circulatory system to function adequately. It circulates the nutrients (from digestion) around in the blood. The circulatory system is central to the respiratory and excretory system functions.
