BI110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 38: Signal Transduction, Muscular System, Heritability
Document Summary
Module 1: evolution and life on earth (lecture notes) Biology: the science of life and of living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution. The property or quality that distinguishes living from non-living organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organism. A system in which proteins and nucleic acids interact in ways that allow the structure to grow and reproduce. Growth and reproduction = key (imperative to continuation of lineage) Unifying concept in biology (bio nearly always comes back to evolution) Biological definition of evolution: common: change/time, biological: change/time with the added dimension of heritability (genetic variation leading to diversity) Individual organisms do not evolve; populations of organisms change over time. Evolution explains unity and biodiversity of life. Cuttlefish: senses environment and changes body colour based on surroundings (adapts to environment)