Lecture 1

Biology and Its themes

Phorutai Pearngam (Pear)

phorutai.pea@mahidol.edu
Academic year 2023-2024
Overview of today’s lecture

1. Themes of Biology

2. Scientific Inquiry

3. A cooperative work in science

2
 Biology is the scientific study of life

What is life?

Life is recognised by what living things do

3
Some properties of life Biologists ask questions such as
- How does a single cell develop into an
organism?
- How does the human mind work?
- How do living things interact in communities?

In biology scheme, you will encounter a

comprehensible framework all the
information.

How can you organize them to study biology?

Focusing on five unifying themes

• Organization
• Information
• Energy and Matter
• Interactions
• Evolution 4
The Five Themes of Biology

1. Organization: Levels of organization, centering on the cell, exhibit different

emergent properties

2. Information: Life requires the expression and transmission of genetic information

3. Energy and Matter: Life processes require the transfer and transformation of
energy and matter

4. Interactions: Interactions are important in biological systems

5. Evolution: Evolution is the core theme of biology

5
Theme 1: Organization
▪ Life can be studied at different levels, from molecules to entire ‘living’ planet
▪ Enormous range can be divided into different levels of biological organization

▪ The arrangement and interaction of parts within a

biological level organization exhibits emergent
properties
properties that become apparent and result
within a
from various interacting are dots
system but are properties not
belong
to the individual components themselves .

▪ Isolated components of living systems lack a number of

significant properties that emerge at higher levels of
organization
▪ Example: the movement of a deer require the
coordinated process of muscles, bones, and nerves
those made of cells

https://www.api.simply.science/organization-of-life 6
Theme 1: Organization
▪ Emergent properties are not unique to life
▪ For example, functioning bicycle emerges only when all necessary parts connect in
correct way

Biological systems are far more complex, making the

emergent properties of life especially challenging to study

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Theme 1: Organization
▪ Reductionism is the reduction of complex systems to simpler components that are
more manageable to study
▪ To fully explore emergent properties, biologists today complement reductionism with
systems biology

8
systemsbiology.org
Structure and Function
▪ At each level of the biological hierarchy, there is a correlation between structure and
function
▪ The correlation of structure and function are common in all living things, analyzing a
biological structure can explain about what it does and how it works.
▪ For example, desert plant and animal adaptation

https://sciencing.com/do-plants-animals-adapt-desert-6516007.html
Structure and Function: The cell
▪ The cell is the lowest level of organization that can perform all activities required for life
▪ Every cell is enclosed by a membrane that regulates passage of materials between the cell
and its environment
PNA is circular -
DNA is linear .

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nucleus
always
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nucleaid is present .

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cell wall is
generally present . cell wall can be present or absent .

unicellular multicellular
could be either unicellular
-

or

▪ Two main forms of cells: Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic

https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-1-cell-biology/12-
ultrastructure-of-cells/prokaryotic-versus-eukaryot.html
Theme 2: Information
▪ Life’s processes involve the expression and
transmission of genetic information
▪ Chromosomes contain genetic material in the
form of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
▪ The molecular structure of DNA accounts for its
ability to store information

▪ A DNA molecule is a double helix strand

▪ Each chain made up of four kinds of chemical building blocks called
nucleotides; adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T)
Theme 2: Information
▪ One very long DNA molecule contains hundreds or thousands of genes
▪ Genes are the units of inheritance; they encode information for building molecules (proteins)
synthesised within cells
▪ Proteins are major players in building and maintaining the cell and carrying out its activities
▪ The entire process by which the information in a gene directs the manufacture of a cellular product
is called gene expression; DNA → mRNA → Protein
▪ DNA therefore holds the plan to control development and maintenance of organisms

Alfalahi, Ayoob. (2018)

Genomics: Large-Scale Analysis of DNA Sequences
• The study of the entirety of an organism’s genes
• Evaluating sequence, mapping and annotation of the genome, and
analysis of the structure and function
• “High-throughput” technology, which yields enormous amounts of data
• Bioinformatics, which is use of computational tools to process a large
volume of data
• Application of genomics:
▪ Detection of gene abnormalities and mutations related diseases
▪ Comparative genome sequences of different organisms
▪ Creating genome databases of model organism

Human Genome Project

(1990 – 2003)
Theme 3: Energy and Matter
▪ Various cellular activities of life are work, and
work requires energy
▪ The input of energy, primarily from the sun, and
the transformation of energy from one form to
another make life possible
▪ plant’s leaves absorb sunlight and convert the
energy to the chemical energy of food, such as
sugars, which then passed along from plants and
other photosynthetic organisms (producers) to
consumers
▪ A consumer is an organism that feeds on other
organisms or their remains
Theme 3: Energy and Matter
▪ When organisms use energy to perform work, some energy is lost to surroundings as heat
▪ As a result, energy flows through an ecosystem, entering as light or chemical bond energy and
exiting as heat
▪ In contrast, chemicals cycle within an ecosystem, where they are used and then recycled
Theme 4: Interactions

▪ From ecosystems to molecules, interactions are important in biological

systems
▪ Interactions between the components of the system ensure smooth
integration of all the parts
▪ This holds true equally well for components of an ecosystem and the
molecules in a cell
▪ The approach of system biology is generally used to study the interactions in
either molecular level or ecosystem level
Theme 4: Interactions
Insulin
signaling Molecules: Interactions within organisms
▪ Interactions between components—organs, tissues,
cells, and molecules—that make up living organisms
are crucial to their smooth operation
▪ Cells are able to coordinate various chemical
pathways through a mechanism called feedback
Blood ▪ In feedback regulation, the output or product of a
clotting process, regulates that process
▪ Negative feedback: a loop in which the response
reduces the initial stimulus e.g. insulin signaling
▪ Positive feedback: a loop in which an end product
speeds up its own production e.g. blood clotting

http://biologyaqaalevelnotes.blogspot.com/2017/04/organisms-
respond-to-changes-in-their_30.html
Theme 4: Interactions
Ecosystems: An Organism’s Interactions with Other Organisms and the Physical Environment

▪ At ecosystem level, each organism interacts

continuously with other organisms
▪ These interactions may be beneficial or
harmful to one or both the organisms
▪ Organisms also interact continuously with
physical factors in their environment, and
environment is likewise affected by
organisms living there
Theme 5: Evolution
▪ An understanding of evolution helps us to make sense of everything we know about
life on Earth
▪ The scientific explanation for both the unity and diversity of organisms is evolution; the
concept that living organisms are modified descendants of common ancestors
▪ Many kinds of evidence support the occurrence of evolution

“Nothing in biology makes sense except

in the light of evolution”

Theodosius Dobzhansky
Classifying the Diversity of Life
▪ Biologists have so far identified and named about 1.8 million species of organisms
binomial nomenclature generic name specific name

▪ Each species is given a two-part name consisting of genus and species

.

Genus Name Species Name

▪ Estimates of the total number of species that

actually exist range from 10 million to over 100
million
▪ Taxonomy is the branch of biology that names and
classifies species into groups of increasing breadth

Hierarchical classification
The Linnaean system, the classification system that groups organisms
into a hierarchy of increasingly inclusive categories
The Three Domains of Life

▪ Organisms are divided into three domains, named

Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya
Give in
high temp .

▪ Domain Bacteria and domain Archaea compose the

prokaryotes
▪ All the eukaryotes are in domain Eukarya including four
subgroups of Kingdom: Plantae, Fungi, Animalia, and the
protists
▪ Fungi, which absorb nutrients
▪ Plants, which produce their own food by
photosynthesis
▪ Animals, which ingest their food
The Three Domains of Life
Unity in the Diversity of Life
▪ As diverse as life is, there is also remarkable unity among forms of life
▪ Similarities between organisms are evident at all levels of the biological hierarchy

An example of unity underlying the diversity of life: the architecture of cilia in eukaryotes
Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection

Darwin’s theory of evolution has been come out as ‘Natural Selection’

• Individuals that are best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and
reproduce
• Over time, more individuals in a population will have the advantageous traits
Natural Selection

light colors to spot eaten/elliminated

easy
:

= .

Park colors :
camouflage : survive .
 The Tree of Life
▪ Darwin proposed that natural selection could cause an ancestral species to give rise to
two or more descendent species. For example, the finch species of the Galápagos
Islands are descended from a common ancestor
▪ Evolutionary relationships are often illustrated with treelike diagrams that show
ancestors and their descendants
Fr
commen
2. Scientific Inquiry
Science is derived from Latin and means “to know”

▪ In studying nature, scientists make

observations and form and test hypotheses
▪ Inquiry is the search for information and
explanations of natural phenomena
support
Aypothesis ?
▪ The scientific process includes making
observations, forming logical hypotheses,
and testing hypotheses

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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/473018767108410537/
Observation
Exploration and Observations can reveal valuable information about the natural world
• A series of detailed observations have shaped our understanding of cell structure
• The databases of genome sequences from diverse species and databases of genes whose
expression is altered in various diseases.
Recorded observations are called data
Analyzing Data
Gathering and

• Qualitative data often take the form of recorded descriptions

• Quantitative data are generally expressed as numerical measurement, organized into tables and
graphs
• Collecting and analyzing observations can lead to important conclusions based on a type of
logic called inductive reasoning
Testing Hypotheses
Forming and

A hypothesis is an explanation, based on observations and assumptions, that leads to a testable

prediction
• Predictions that can be tested by making observations or by performing experiments
Questions that can and cannot be addressed by science

▪ A hypothesis must be testable and falsifiable

• For example, a hypothesis that ghosts fooled with the flashlight cannot be tested
▪ Supernatural and religious explanations are outside the bounds of science

https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-kinect-ghost-hunters https://news.thaipbs.or.th/content/294230
The Flexibility of the Scientific Process
▪ The scientific method is an idealized process of inquiry
▪ Very few scientific inquiries follow rigidly to the sequence of steps

For Example…
• A scientist may start to design an experiment, but
then backtrack after realizing that more
preliminary observations are necessary
• Observations remain too puzzling to prompt well-
defined questions until further study provides a
new context in which to view those observations
A Case Study in Scientific Inquiry: Investigating
Coat Coloration in Mouse Populations
Experimental Variables and Controls
▪ In a controlled experiment, an experimental group (the non-camouflaged mice in this
case) is compared with a control group (the camouflaged mice)
▪ The factor that is subsequently measured are variables—a feature or quantity that
varies in an experiment
▪ Independent variable—the factor being manipulated by the researchers
▪ Dependent variable — the factor being measured that is predicted to be affected by
the independent variable
▪ Without controls the researchers would not be able to rule out other factors besides
model color that might have affected the results
3. A cooperative work in science
▪ Most scientists work in teams, which often include graduate
and undergraduate students
▪ Good communication is important in order to share results
through seminars, publications, and websites

Coronavirus - Organisations publishing in Europe

(https://www.cmine.eu/news/270414) 39
 Building on the Work of Others

▪ Scientists check each other’s claims by performing

similar experiments
▪ If experimental results are not repeatable, the
original claim will have to be revised https://scienceintegritydigest.com/2019/06/17/falsifi
cation-haruko-obokata-case/

▪ It is not unusual for different scientists to work on

the same research question
▪ Scientists cooperate by sharing data about model
organisms (for example, the fruit fly Drosophila
melanogaster)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Science, Technology, and Society
▪ The goal of science is to understand natural
phenomena, while that of technology is to
apply scientific knowledge for some specific
purpose
▪ The combination of science and technology
has dramatic effects on society
▪ For example, the discovery of DNA by James
Watson and Francis Crick led to the
technologies of DNA manipulation
▪ Ethical issues can arise from new technology,
but have as much to do with politics,
economics, and cultural values as with
science and technology
Why is Diversity Important for Science?
▪ Scientific progress relies on problem solving and
collaboration. Groups composed of people with diverse
experiences and areas of expertise tend to be more
creative and innovative.
▪ Asking questions drives science forward, and scientists
with different perspectives often ask different questions.
Different questions can lead to new insights, develop new
techniques which often lead to new knowledge.