Biology Basics: Terms and Concepts in Molecular Biology and Cellular Processes, Quizzes of Biology

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mechanistic

determined by physical processes alone. Physical processes and interactions of molecular parts determine the overall outcome of living organisms as opposed to vitalistic principles TERM 2

Vitalism

DEFINITION 2 A doctrine that life is self-determined, governed by an intrinsic force that the laws of physics and chemistry do no completely describe. TERM 3

Molecular self assembly

DEFINITION 3 a disordered system of pre-existing molecules forms an organized structure or pattern as a result of local, predicatble rules the molecules follow and without guidance or direction ex. - membranes (phospholipids) spontaneously form two layers - proteins fold in the absence of extrinsic factors - transcription/translation --> routinely performed in a tube TERM 4

emergence

DEFINITION 4 new and more complex properties of a system appear at larger scales out of relatively simple interactions of various and separate parts interacting by LOCAL RULES ex. Biochemistry TERM 5

homeostasis

DEFINITION 5 a condition caused by regulation of a system's internal environment towards the tendency to maintain a stable, constant condition.

Signal reception

mechanisms to sense a stimulus or condition TERM 7

Positive

feedback

DEFINITION 7 mechanisms designed to accelerate or enhance a response that has already been activated. TERM 8

Negative

feedback

DEFINITION 8 mechanisms designed to bring output back into normal range by slowing or reversing a response TERM 9

First law of thermodynamics

DEFINITION 9 Conservation of energy --> energy is not created or destroyed, but is rather transformed ex. growth --> chemical bond formation TERM 10

Second law of thermodynamics

DEFINITION 10 Entropy --> unusable energy or disorder increases over time --->>Life requires energy to maintain order

evolution

the change over time of heritable traits of organisms and populations of organisms TERM 12

Genetic continuity

DEFINITION 12 organisms reproduce and reproduce their "instructions", this leaving an ancestral trail TERM 13

Evidence that Archaea share characteristics

with modern Eukaryotes

DEFINITION 13 a. Histones b. Introns c. RNA Polymerase d. Actin-like protein TERM 14

How do biochemical reactions differ from

"Chemical Reactions"

DEFINITION 14 Biochemistry is a subset of chemistry. Biochemical reactions occur in living cells TERM 15

Characteristics of Biochemical Reactions

DEFINITION 15

1. Occur in mild conditions -> liquid water (temperature, pressure, aqueous) (-20 to 112 or 113 C, pressure up to 1000 atm, all water- based) 2. occur at great rates --> enzymes, catalyzed reactions 3. interdependent --> seen at cellular level and organismal level --> Inside cell (ATP) --> Between cells (photosynthesis and respiration
2. proceed in pathways (molecules interconverted or recycled for multiple uses 5. regulated --> homeostasis, metabolic processes 6. evolutionary past --> Some molecules survived because they were more fit to survive (Glucose, ATP,