Diversity of Life

1. Diversity of Life

2. There is a better reason for studying zoology than its possible ‘usefulness’, and the inherent likeableness of animals. - Richard Dawkins

3. Rene’ Magritte

5. J.S.G. Boggs

6. Marcel Duchamp

7. Understanding enhances appreciation: what will you think when you see this?

8. There is a better reason for studying zoology than its possible ‘usefulness’, and the inherent likeableness of animals. This reason is that we animals are the most complicated and perfectly designed pieces of machinery in the known universe. - Richard Dawkins

9. Formula for success in this class

10. What is Biology ?

11. Biomolecules / Organic molecules • does irradiating food add radiation to food? Explain • Describe the “octet rule” • What are the two types of chemical bonds • List at least 3 important properties of water • Biological molecules are grouped into four categories. Name all four. • Describe the difference between a monomer and a polymer; give an example of a monomer and a polymer (your example does not have to be a biomolecule). • Like all lipids, a triglyceride is insoluble in water because it lacks many fill in the blankfunctional groups. Triglycerides are used for fill in the blank and are made from two subunits, a single molecule of fill in the blank plus three molecules of fill in the blank. Hydrophobic Hydrophilic Fatty acids Glycerol Amino acid Glycogen Long-term energy storage Quick and ready source of energy Storing genetic information Making a phospholipid membrane

12. Biology is the science of life.What is life? Think of some examples…

13. No one mistook computer for life So we have an intuitive sense of what we mean by “life”

14. What is life? List “characteristics of living things”What does “life” have or do that a computer does not?

15. List: Characteristics of Living Things Organized: cells - tissues - organs - organ systems - organisms - population - community - ecosystem Acquire material/energy Maintain internal environment: homeostasis Respond Reproduce / Develop Have adaptations

16. Really? Let me challenge this a bit…try to get at the essence of “life”

17. What is “life” or “living” Something that is organized ?

18. What is “life” or “living” Something that is organized ?

19. What is “life” or “living” Maintains status quo (homeostasis)? Farmer fixing his fence (life), or House with AC/thermostat vs Buffered lake (non-living)

20. What is “life” or “living” Something that consumes energy ? 3Fe + 4H2O <-===-> Fe3O4 + 4H2 Iron water iron (II,III) oxide hydrogen

21. What is “life” or “living” Something that reproduces ?

22. What is “life” or “living” Something that reproduces ?

23. What is “life” or “living” Something that grows and develops ?

24. What is “life” or “living” Something that responds to the environment ?

25. What is “life” or “living” Something that has adaptations ? Word-of-mouth stories

26. Definition of life: “I can not define it, but I’ll know it when I see it” -Supreme Court Justice Stewart

27. “I can not define it, but I’ll know it when I see it” Which one is “life”

28. “I can not define it, but I’ll know it when I see it” Reproduce, utilize Energy (metabolism), adapt to environment… require prolonged observation to determine, so It becomes harder to distinguish life from non-life when it is from: a long time ago (dead, fossil) petrified wood another planet (E.T.) - potentially very different from us shark tooth, sand dollar

29. Life on Mars?

30. Life on Mars?Martian romantics

31. Life on Mars? Happy face!

32. Life on Mars?Life in extreme Earth environments A novel thermophile isolated from >300°C, 1500m deep, geothermal water pool Bacillus living at 55°C (131°F)

33. Life on Mars - fossils ? From Martian meteorite Bacteria (on Earth) Size: 1 µm vs 0.1 µm

34. Are Martian fossils biological ? Martian fossils: -Too small? -biological? acid etches

35. Problems with list Organized: cells - tissues - organs - organ systems - organisms - population - community - ecosystem most life is not multi-cellular Acquire material/energy - Maintain internal environment: homeostasis - Respond what about a seed? Timescale of response Reproduce / Develop can you do this by yourself? Have adaptations - Require group of living things, often times different species (think of bacteria in you or a termite)

36. Definition of life: “I can not define it, but I’ll know it when I see it” -Supreme Court Justice Stewart Maybe not so easy after all!

37. Symptoms of life: Order, reproduction, growth, development, energy utilization, response to environment Symptoms of disease: 1. fever is common early in the infection, aches and pains throughout their bodies, cough, congestion, red or purple spot on the body. Influenza, virus 2. In the first week, the temperature rises slowly and fever fluctuations are seen with relative bradycardia, malaise, headache, and cough. Rose spots appear on the lower chest and abdomen Typhoid fever, bacteria, from ingestion of food or water contaminated with the fecesof an infected person

38. Symptoms of life: Order, reproduction, growth, development, energy utilization, response to environment Symptoms of disease: 1. fever is common early in the infection, aches and pains throughout their bodies, cough, congestion, red or purple spot on the body. Influenza, virus 2. In the first week, the temperature rises slowly and fever fluctuations are seen with relative bradycardia, malaise, headache, and cough. Rose spots appear on the lower chest and abdomen Typhoid fever, bacteria, from ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person

39. Symptoms of life: Order, reproduction, growth, development, energy utilization, response to environment Underlying cause? (fundamental essence)

40. What distinguishes “living things” from “non-living” chemical reactions?

41. “Living things” are different from “non-living things” becauseliving things can evolve ()

42. “living things” are a bunch of chemical reactions that:can make copies of themselves (reproduce), andthe physical traits of the copies can differ from original

43. Why can the physical properties of “living things” change when “living things” are copied (reproduce), but not so for “non-living” things?

44. The physical properties of “living things” are determined by a program (indirectly), and this program can mutate when it is copied

45. “Living things” are different from “non-living things” becauseliving things can evolve (physical traits can change over time))

46. “Living things” are different from “non-living things” becauseliving things can evolve (living things are the product of an evolutionary process; “life” is a process that involves many individuals over time)

47. “Living things” are different from “non-living things” becauseliving things can evolve (living things are the product of an evolutionary process; “life” is a process that involves many individuals over time)

48. biological evolution:living things direct their own reproductionand living things encode their own physical properties.joysticks do not make copies of themselves.we do it for them, and we determine their physical properties

49. How many seeds does a dandelion produce? How many of these dandelions seeds live/grow and produce their own seeds? Let’s imagine anything that is alive: it can reproduce, and its physical properties can change. Now…let’s add the environment. What happens

50. Natural selection The members of a population have heritable variations. The population produces more offspring than the resources of an environment can support. There is competition for resources; as a result, the better adapted individuals survive and reproduce more than the poorly adapted. Across generations, a larger proportion of the population becomes adapted to the environment.