Introduction to Biology

LS 1001: Biology
Dr. Surajit Das
 What is Biology?
• Biology (Greek or Latin origin)
• Bios = life
• Logos = study of
• The study of life
• The science of living things
Why Important?
• Recognizing life’s characteristics and the
methods used to study life provide a basis for
understanding the living world.
 Why Study Biology?

• Two important reasons for studying Biology:

– Biology is relevant to our everyday experience
• Medical advances
• Addressing needs of growing human population
• Challenges of decreasing rate of biodiversity
• Biotechnology advances
 Why Study Biology?
– Biology can be
controversial Figure 1-1c
• Examples:
– Dealing with
endangered
species?
– Use of human fetal
tissue in biomedical
research?
– Safety of irradiated
foods?
– Safety of
genetically modified
(GM) food
 Characteristics of Life
Organisms in nature possess unique features that allow biologists to
identify them as living rather than nonliving. They are as follows:

1. Cellular Organization 6. Metabolism

2. Growth 7. Specific organization
3. Reproduction 8. Homeostasis
4. Movement 9. Respond to
5. Adaptation environment
 #1 Organization
• All living organisms are made up of at
least one cell
Paramecium
• Unicellular - one celled organisms.
Eg. Paramecium, amoeba

• Multicellular – more than one cell.

Eg. Humans, plants, animals amoeba

• Cells are not found in nonliving things.

 #2 Growth

• Two Basic types of Growth

• Increase in cell size (unicellular)
• Increase in cell number (multicellular)
 #3 Reproduction
• Reproduction is the ability to produce a new organism of
the same type. It is not essential for the survival of an
individual organism, but it is essential for the continuation of
a species (a group of organisms that can interbreed and
produce fertile offspring in nature).
• Asexual- cell division (mitosis)—one cell becomes two Eg.
bacteria
• Sexual- two different cells join to form one new individual.
New individual is different from either parent. Eg. plants and
animals

Fertilization - union of the egg and sperm.

Zygote - new cell formed as a result of fertilization. Most
complex organisms reproduce in this way.
 #3 Reproduction continued

• Although  no  two  look  alike,  these  kittens  have 

inherited genes from both parents and share many 
of the same characteristics. 
 #4 Movement

• 3 types:

A. Place to Place- (eg. bear running, bird

flying, etc)
B. External Part- (eg. + phototropism, plants
orient leaves toward sun)
C. Internal- (ex: cytoplasmic streaming/
cyclosis)
 #5 Adaptation
• Changing to meet the needs of the
environment
Examples:
Bird migration- behavioral adaptation

Human body temperature- physiological adaptation

Hibernation- physiological adaptation
- a state of inactivity and metabolic depression
in endotherms. Hibernation refers to a season of
heterothermy characterized by low body
temperature, slow breathing and heart rate, and
low metabolic rate.
Aestivation- physiological adaptation
A state of animal dormancy,
characterized by inactivity and a
lowered metabolic rate, that is
entered in response to high
temperatures and arid conditions.
E.g. land crabs, land snails

Hare ear length (desert vs. arctic

hares)- structural adaptation
The jackrabbit’s large ears provide an expansive surface
area of exposed skin loaded with blood vessels. When
the surrounding air temperature is slightly below the
rabbit’s body temperature, the blood vessels in the outer
part of its ears widen in a process called vasodilation.
This results in greater circulation of warm blood from the
body’s core to the ears, where heat is lost to the cooler
surrounding air.
 #6 Metabolism
• Set of chemical reactions that convert
“food” into energy

Metabolism= Anabolism+Catabolism
 # 7 Specific Organization

• Certain parts do specific jobs (ex: heart,

nucleus, chloroplasts, etc)
 #8 Homeostasis
• Maintaining the same state
Homeo = same, steady
Stasis = state

Examples:
-Water balance inside and outside of cell
-Human body temperature
-Blood pH is tightly regulated.
-Pancreatic hormones work to regulate blood
glucose.
*Cells function best when these are in balance
 # 9 Respond to Environment
• Stimulus - a change in the environment
– Eg. light, heat, pH, vibration, smell, etc.– earthworms
respond to all of these.
• Response - reaction to the change.
– Eg. pupils get smaller.
• Essential for any organisms to-
– Escape predators
– Find food
– Move to light
– Move away from toxins
– Find a mate
 Properties of Life
• In summary, living organisms:
– are composed of cells (Cellular Organization)
– are complex and ordered (Ordered Complexity)
– respond to their environment (Sensitivity)
– can Grow, Develop and Reproduce
– obtain and use energy (Energy Utilization)
– maintain internal balance (Homeostasis)
– allow for Evolutionary Adaptation
 Branches of Biology
1. Zoology- the study of animals

2. Ichthyology- the study of fish

Why Important? Fish are indicator
species.
3. Mammalogy- study of mammals

4. Ornithology- the study of birds

Why important? DDT(insecticide used in ‘50s
and ’60s) Birds of prey #s declined

5. Botany- the study of plants

Why important? Food production, medicines
6. Microbiology- study of small life
Why important?
Medicines, bioterrorism
7. Anatomy- study of an organism’s parts

8. Physiology- study of how organism’s

parts work
Why important? Health professions,
veterinarians
9. Entomology- study of insects
Why important? West Nile virus, Yellow fever–
carried by mosquitoes

10. Genetics- study of heredity and genetic

material (DNA/RNA, chromosomes,
genes)
Why important? Cloning, research, solving
crime
11. Ecology- study of all life in a particular
area, the relationships b/t those life forms
and the environment
Why important? Overpopulation
Ozone Depletion/Greenhouse Effect
Rainforest Destruction
Pollution

12. Cell Biology- the study of cells

Why Important?
Need to know about cells to learn more about
whole organisms
 Biology Pioneers
1. Aristotle
-Greek (1st bio. teacher)
“Father of Biology and
Zoology”
 More on Aristotle
• Supported spontaneous generation
theory
• Created a theory of the elements
4 elements:
A. Earth B. Air
C. Water D. Fire
-1st person to start classifying organisms
 Spontaneous Generation Myths
Theory that life just “spontaneously” developed from non-living
matter
Snakes from horse hairs in stagnant water
Mice from grain and cheese wrapped in a sweater
Maggots from rotting meat
Fleas from hair
Flies from fresh and rotting fruit
Mosquitoes from stagnant pondwater
Eels from slimy mud at the bottom of the ocean
Locusts from green leaves
Raccoons from hollow tree trunks
Termites are generated from rotting wood
 2. Hippocrates
• Greek physician (B. 460 BC)
• “Father of Medicine”
• Hippocratic Oath for doctors
(new physician to swear, by
a number of healing gods, to
uphold specific ethical
standards)
• Hippocrates is credited with
being the first person to believe
that diseases were caused
naturally, not because of
superstition and gods.
 3. Leeuwenhoek
• Dutch
• His hobby was lens
grinding
• He was the first person to
see:
A.Bacteria
B.Protozoans
C.Red blood cells
D.Sperm cells
-He did NOT support
spontaneous generation
• He was the first person to see:
A. Bacteria
B. Protozoans
C. Red blood cells
D. Sperm cells
-He did NOT support spontaneous
generation
 The first MICROBIOLOGIST
and his MICROSCOPE

• 1674 made a simple microscope observed live

specimens
• Could magnify images up to 200x
• Observed 50,000 different specimens, reported
findings to the Royal Society of London

Anton van Leeuwenhoek

Anton van Leeuwenhoek 1674
- 1st person to actually see living microorganisms

“wee animalcules”
 4. Louise Pastuer

 Pasteur filtered air through cotton plug showing

that filterable particles cause contamination of
sterile broths.
 Swan-necked flask experiments to dis-porve the
Spontaneous Generation theory

(1822-1895)
Origin of Microbes: Pasteur’s Swan-Necked Flasks
Origin of Microbes: Pasteur’s Swan-Necked Flasks

Remains
sterile.

Bacteria, Contamination
Heat to fungal spores, of culture
sterilize and dust
(doesn’t adhere to Broth turbidity
always work). glass. indicates bacterial
growth.
 5. Lister
• British
• Hospital conditions
were dirty & infectious
• Used phenol as a
disinfectant
• “Father of Aseptic
Surgery”
 6. Fleming
• British
• Accidentally
discovered first
antibiotic (penicillin)
7. Salk and 8. Sabin
 Salk and Sabin
• Developed 1st polio • Developed oral polio
vaccine injection vaccine (1959)
(1955)
• Didn’t patent vaccine, • Vaccines are
didn’t want to profit weakened forms of
from his discovery disease that tricks
body into making
antibodies