1. Introduction: Themes in the Study of LIFE
Chapter 1
Introduction: Themes in the Study of LIFE

2. INQUIRY!!!
Posing questions about the living world and seeking science based answers is called scientific inquiry.
These are the central tenets of BIOLOGY
Unifying themes help us organize our thoughts and categorize the living world around us

3. Unifying Themes
SUPERTHEME: EVOLUTION: The overarching theme of biology. Organisms living on Earth today are the modified descendants of common ancestors.
Theme 1: New properties emerge at each level of biological hierarchy
Theme 2: Organisms interact with their environments, exchanging matter and energy.
Theme 3: Structure and Function are correlated at all levels of biological organization
Theme 4: Cells are the basic unit of structure and function
Theme 5: The continuity of life is based on heritable information in the form of DNA
Theme 6: Feedback mechanisms regulate biological systems

4. Emergent properties
From subatomic particles to the universe we can divide our observations into multiple levels of organization.
As we move up in complexity new properties emerge that were not previously there. These emergent properties are the result of interactions of the various parts as the scope increases
Subatomic particlesatomsmoleculesdendrites of neural cellsmemories in your brain.
Reductionism works great for breaking things down and helping us to study them, but we often lose the function aspect as we delve into the structure

5. Emergent Properties

6. Emergent Properties

7. Systems Biology
Models biological systems and predicts their responses as variables change

8. EVOLUTION 1.8 Million species named, out of 10-400 million estimated
DomainKingdomPhylumClassOrderFam ilyGenusSpecies
Domains are Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.
Protista is being split into more kingdoms
Darwin: Origin of Species, 1859: Descent with modification
The tree of Life

9. Scientists Use 2 Forms of Inquiry:
Discovery Science: verifiable observation, data, INDUCTIVE reasoning. Leads to generalized conclusions drawn from collections of observations
Hypothesis-Based Science: DEDUCTIVE reasoning; goes from general to specific. Hypothesis must be testable and falsifiable. Controlled experiments are preferable