THE STUDY OF LIFE

Biology literally means “study of life.” It comes from two Greek words, “bios” (life) and “logos”
(reason or study). Biology is the science that deals with structures, functions, and relationships of living
things and their environment. It is a broad field and may be studied at various levels – molecular,
cellular, organismal, population, community, or ecosystems. Traditionally, there are three major
divisions of the biological sciences:
Microbiology – study of microorganisms
Botany – study of plants
Zoology – study of animals

Some of the branches of biology include:

Taxonomy – naming and classifying organisms
Cytology – structures and functions of cells
Embryology – formation and development of organisms
Anatomy – structure and parts of organisms
Physiology – functions of living organisms and their parts
Biochemistry – biochemical compositions of living things
Genetics – heredity and variation
Evolution – origin and differentiation of various organisms
Ecology – relationships of organisms with their environment
Molecular biology – molecules that make up the cells of living organisms
Genomics – genetic material (genome) of an organism
Proteomics – different proteins (proteome) found in a living organism
Immunology – immune system
Bioinformatics – biological data using computer programs

Life and Its Beginnings

Early Beliefs About the Origin of Life

Centuries ago, one belief that governed their thinking is the theory of spontaneous generation
or abiogenesis. Spontaneous generation is the idea that life could appear from nonliving material. This
idea was proposed by Aristotle in the fourth century. As time went by, scientists questioned this belief
and began to explore an opposing idea, biogenesis. Biogenesis is the belief that life originates from
preexisting life. Since then, several experiments have been conducted to prove these contradicting
beliefs to know how life came about.

Redi’s Experiment
In 1668, Italian physician Francesco Redi conducted an experiment that challenged the idea of
spontaneous generation. His experimental setup involved disproving spontaneous generation using
maggots that arose in decaying meat.
 Francesco Redi concluded that life arose from living matter such as maggots from eggs, not from
spontaneous generation in the meat.

Needham’s Experiment
In 1748, English priest John Needham challenged Redi’s experiment. It was common knowledge
at that time that boiling could kill microorganisms. Needham’s experiment tested whether or not
microorganisms can appear spontaneously after boiling.

After several days, Needham observed that the broth turned cloudy and full of microorganisms.
He then concluded that life in the broth was caused by spontaneous generation.

Spallanzani’s Experiment
In 1767, Italian scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani, challenged Needham’s experiment. Spallanzani
boiled a broth containing meat and vegetables placed in clean glass containers. Both containers were
boiled but one setup was not sealed, allowing air to enter the flask.
 Spallanzani concluded that life occurred from something that entered the unsealed flask and
that it was the one responsible for life to grow.

Pasteur’s Experiment
It was only in 1861 through Louis Pasteur’s experiment that most scientists were convinced that
spontaneous generation could not occur. Pasteur designed an experiment to test the idea that a vital
element from air was necessary for life to occur. He boiled sugar solution with yeast in flasks with long
neck.

The flasks were left open to allow the vital element in air to enter but no organisms developed
in the mixture. It was because the microorganism settled on the bottom of the curved neck of the flask
and could not reach the mixture. He also cut the neck of the flask and within two days, the solution was
teeming with microorganisms because airborne microorganisms could easily enter the flask. This
experiment supported the theory of biogenesis and disproved spontaneous generation. This evidence
suggests that new bacteria appear only when they are produced by existing bacteria.

Current Beliefs About the Origin of Life

Divine Creation
The oldest hypothesis that life came from a divine being is the most widely accepted belief. The
belief that life arose from nothing but the power of a divine being is called creationism.
Spontaneous Origin
Some scientist believe that the first life came from a spontaneous origin or life evolved from
inanimate matter. Before life could evolve, simple molecules combined to form complex ones. The
energy that drove these chemical processes may come from lighting or some form of geothermal
energy, culminating in the evolution of cells from simple to multicellular forms. Electric sparks can
produce amino acids and sugars from an atmosphere loaded with preexisting materials like water,
methane, ammonia, and hydrogen.

Panspermia
The Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius popularized the idea that life arose outside Earth and life
that forms were transported from another planet to seed life on Earth. Panspermia proposes that a
meteor or cosmic dust may have carried to Earth significant amounts of organic molecules, which
started the evolution of life.

UNIFYING THEMES ABOUT LIFE

1. Gathering and Using Energy

One unique characteristics of living things is the ability to use energy and matter to ensure
survival. Energy is the ability of organisms to do work that allows them to move. In order to perform
vital activities such as growth, movement, and reproduction, all living things require energy. Green
plants obtain energy from sunlight by means of photosynthesis. For humans and animals, energy is
derived from other organisms or food. Energy is produced with complex organic matter such as
carbohydrates and proteins are broken down into simple substances such as glucose and amino acids.
The process by which energy is released by the breakdown of food substances is called cellular
respiration.
All chemical processes, reactions, and energy changes happening inside the body of an organism
are referred to as metabolism.

1a. Nutrient Uptake and Processing

All living organisms need to feed in order to survive, grow, and reproduce. The process by which
organisms acquire food is called nutrition. In living organisms, once raw materials are inside the body, it
will be processed through various chemical reactions for repair, reproduction, manufacture of new body
parts or continuous supply of energy for essential activities.

1b. Waste Elimination

Inside the body of the organism, all metabolic processes must be coordinated and regulated. In
the metabolic level, the chemical reactions are processed to ensure efficient coordination via enzymes.
Enzymes help regulate the rate at which these reactions occur including the amount of nutrients to be
processed into other forms. In the organismal level, regulatory chemicals in the form of hormones
control the functions of activities, growth, and development. The maintenance of the body’s internal
environment is called homeostasis.

2. Adapting and Evolving

2a. Motility
Most animals can move from one place to another by walking, flying, swimming, gliding, or
jumping. Such movement is called locomotion or motility.

2b. Irritability
 External factors or stimuli such as light, sound, temperature, pressure, food sources, or presence
of chemical substances, affect living things. The reaction of an organism to stimuli is called tropism or
response. The ability of an organism to respond appropriately against a stimulus is called sensitivity or
irritability.

2c. Adaptation
For living things to survive and perform normal functions, the ability to adjust to changes in the
environment is a must. Living things need to adapt because the environment where they live vary and
constantly changes.

2d. Evolution
Evolution refers to the changes in the characteristics of a group of organisms (populations) over
time. Evolutionary adaptation is a gradual or rapid change in body structure or behavior to be better
suited and to survive a new environment.

3. Reproducing and Continuing Life

3a. Growth
Growth is an increase in size and volume by converting food to become a part of body cells.
Living things exhibit growth from within the cells in a process called intussusception. Among
multicellular organisms, growth involves more complex processes of cell differentiation and formation of
new organs or organogenesis. Growth in large organisms involves the increase in number of body cells.

3b. Development and Reproduction

All living things undergo defined stages in their life cycle called development, which starts with
birth and ends in death. Reproduction is a process by which genetic information is passed on from one
generation to another as organisms produce offspring that resemble their parents.
Organisms reproduce in two ways. In sexual reproduction, organisms reproduce with the use of
two individuals contributing their sex cells to produce a unique individual of their kind. On the other
hand, asexual reproduction occurs when an organism makes copies of itself, as commonly found in
lower life forms.

3c. Heredity: Unity Amidst Diversity

Animals, plants, and microorganisms carry the common genetic material DNA, which is the
molecule of life that carries the instructions for assembling protein that is responsible for forming a
variety of structures. The presence of DNA in every living organism explains the unity of life. DNA
differentiates a living organism from a nonliving thing. The molecular structure of DNA accounts for its
ability to be used as a genetic material.
Living organisms occur in a vast diversity of forms. Around 1.8 million species of animals, plants,
and microorganisms are known. This diversity of living organisms stems from the differences in DNA
sequences they exhibit. In essence, DNA is the molecule similar to all living organisms and the same
molecule responsible for differences thus bringing unity amidst diversity.

4. Organization of Life
Hierarchical levels of biological organization

The six kingdoms of life