What is

Life?
With the people
around you,
produce 3-5
points that
constitute life.
 1. Cells are the basic unit of life
Foundational Pillars
of Life
2. New species and inherited traits are
the product of evolution

3. Genes are the basic unit of heredity

4. An organism regulates its internal

environment to maintain a stable and
constant condition

5. Living organisms consume and

transform energy
 How do we know
something is alive?
 Cellular Composition
• Made up of at least one cell

• Unicellular - made of one cell (bacteria, amoeba,

paramecium)

• Multicellular - made up of two or more cells (plants, fungi,

animals)
 Growth

• Increase in cell size (unicellular) and/or an increase in cell

number (multicellular)
 Reproduction

• Asexual- cell division (mitosis)—one cell becomes two

Ex: bacteria

• Sexual- union of sex cells (sperm and egg, meiosis) Ex:

plants and animals
 Movement
• 3 types:

A. Place to Place- (ex: bear running, bird flying, etc)

B. External Part- (ex: + phototropism, plants orient leaves
toward sun)
C. Internal- (ex: cytoplasmic streaming)
 Adaptation
• Changing to meet the needs of the environment

Examples:
1. Bird migration- behavioral adaptation
 Adaptation (continued)
2. Human body temperature- Physiological adaptation

3. Hibernation- physiological adaptation

4. Hare ear length (desert vs. arctic hares)- structural

adaptation
 Metabolism

• Set of chemical reactions that convert “food” into energy

 Specific Organization

• Certain parts do specific jobs (ex: heart, nucleus,

chloroplasts, etc)
• Requires Energy for this to happen
 Energy Requirements to have Organization

• All organisms need substances such

as nutrients, water, and gases from the
environment
• The stability of the environment
depends on the healthy functioning of
organisms in that environment

Copyright Cmassengale
12
 Matter, Energy and Organization
• Living things are highly organized
• Require a constant supply of energy to maintain their
orderly state

Copyright Cmassengale
13
 Energy
• ALL energy comes from the SUN
(directly or indirectly)
• Photosynthesis is the process by which
some organisms capture the energy
from the sun (solar) and transform it
into energy (chemical) that can be used
by living things

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 Autotrophs
• Organisms that make their own
food are called autotrophs
• Phototrophs – use solar energy
(photosynthesis) to get energy
• Convert H2O and CO2 into sugar
and O2
• Chemotrophs – use different
chemical processes to get
energy

15
 Heterotrophs
• Organisms that must take in food
to meet their energy needs are
called heterotrophs
Consume autotrophs
(herbivores), other heterotrophs
(carnivores) or both (omnivores)
for their energy needs
• Complex chemicals are broken
down and reassembled into
chemicals and structures needed
by organisms

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 Homeostasis
• Maintaining the same
state
Homeo = same, steady
Stasis = state
Examples:
-Water balance inside and outside of cell
-Human body temperature
*Cells function best when these are in balance
 Responsiveness
• Reaction(s) to various stimuli

Examples of stimuli: light, heat, pH, vibration, smell, etc.–

earthworms respond to all of these
Also consider…
Life obeys the rules of Chemistry and Physics
- The chemistry is called Metabolism (the sum of the chemical
reactions that take place in each cell)
Organisms evolve over time, species change and survive
over time

Organisms have a life span. If you are living, you must

eventually die.
Whose Fault?

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 Biology Pioneers
1. Aristotle
-Greek (1st bio. teacher)
“Father of Biology and Zoology”
 More on Aristotle
• Created a theory of the elements
4 elements:
A. Earth B. Air
C. Water D. Fire
-1st person to start classifying organisms
 Aristotle (384 –322 BC)
• Proposed the theory of
spontaneous generation
• Also called abiogenesis
• Idea that living things can
arise from nonliving matter
• Idea lasted almost 2000
years
 Spontaneous Generation
• For centuries, people based their
beliefs on their interpretations of
what they saw going on in the world
around them without testing their
ideas
• They didn’t use the scientific
method to arrive at answers to
their questions
• Their conclusions were based on
untested observations
Examples of
Spontaneous
Generation
 Example #1
• Observation: Every year in the
spring, the Nile River flooded areas
of Egypt along the river, leaving
behind nutrient-rich mud that
enabled the people to grow that
year’s crop of food. However, along
with the muddy soil, large numbers
of frogs appeared that weren’t
around in drier times
 Example #1
Conclusion: It was perfectly
obvious to people back then
that muddy soil gave rise to
the frogs
 Example #2
• Observation: In many parts of
Europe, medieval farmers stored
grain in barns with thatched roofs
(like Shakespeare’s house). As a
roof aged, it was not uncommon for
it to start leaking. This could lead
to spoiled or moldy grain, and of
course there were lots of mice
around.
 Example #2
Conclusion: It was obvious to
them that the mice came
from the moldy grain.
 2. Hippocrates
• Greek
• “Father of Medicine”
• Hippocratic Oath for doctors (part of his life-long legacy)
 3. Anthonie Van Leeuwenhoek
• Dutch
• His hobby was lens grinding
** He did NOT invent the microscope, he perfected microscope
lenses
• He was the first person to see:
A. Bacteria
B. Protozoans
C. Red blood cells
D. Sperm cells
-He did NOT support spontaneous generation
 4. Joseph Lister
• British
• Hospital conditions were dirty & infectious
• Used phenol as a disinfectant
• “Father of Aseptic Surgery”
 5. Alexander Fleming
• British
• Accidentally discovered first antibiotic (penicillin)
6. Jonas Salk and 7. Albert Sabin
 Salk and Sabin
• Developed oral
1st polio
poliovaccine
vaccineinjection
(1959) (1955)
• Didn’t patent vaccine, didn’t want to profit from his discovery
• Vaccines are weakened forms of disease that tricks body into
making antibodies
 Francesco Redi (1668)
• In 1668, Francesco Redi, an
Italian physician, did an
experiment with flies and wide-
mouth jars containing meat.
• It was a common belief at the
time that rotting meat turned into
maggots and flies.
 Redi’s Experiment
• Redi used open & closed flasks
which contained meat.
• His hypothesis was that rotten
meat does not turn into flies.
• He observed these flasks to
see in which one(s) maggots
would develop.
Redi’s (1626-1697) Experiments
Evidence against spontaneous generation:
1. Unsealed – maggots on meat
2. Sealed – no maggots on meat
3. Gauze – few maggots on gauze, none on meat
 Results of Redi’s Experiments
• The results of this experiment
disproved the idea of
spontaneous generation for
larger organisms, but people
still thought microscopic
organisms like algae or bacteria
could arise that way.
• He proved that only flies could
give rise to more flies.
 Still not quite there…
• John Needham, 18th century (1745)
• Needham concluded since the micro-organism
were not added to the broth they grew
spontaneously

• Critics loved the theory and were happy to

continue believing life could be spontaneously
generated.
 Getting closer…
• Spallanzani, later that same century (1768)
• Questions Needham and suspects experimental error.
Repeats experiment with a complete closure.
• Concludes no life is formed, life must come
from life.

• Critics said, no air allowed in so of course

there is no micro-organisms.
So how was the theory of abiogenesis
disproved for microbes??

• Enter a famous scientist who

developed a process for
purifying milk, etc.

• Who is he??
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
 Pasteur's Problem
• Hypothesis: Microbes come from
cells of organisms on dust particles
in the air; not the air itself.
• Pasteur put broth into several
special S-shaped flasks
• Each flask was boiled and placed
at various locations
 Pasteur's Experiment - Step 1
• S-shaped Flask
• Filled with broth
• The special shaped
was intended to trap
any dust particles
containing bacteria
 Pasteur's Experiment - Step 2

• The broth was boiled

and left sitting out.
• Nothing grew in it.
• He even tried moving it
to different locations
and still nothing
happened.
Pasteur's Experimental
Results
 The Theory of Biogenesis
• Pasteur’s S-shaped flask kept microbes
out but let air in.
• Proved microbes only come from other
microbes (life from life) - biogenesis

Figure 1.3
How Did Life Begin?

Or another prespective
What do All Living Things Need to Survive?

1.Water
2.Food
3.Living space
4.Stable internal conditions (Homeostasis)
 Levels of Organization

• Atoms
• Molecules
• Organelles
• Cells – life starts here
• Tissues
• Organs
• System
• Organism
 Levels of Organization
• Population
• Community
• Ecosystem
• Biosphere
 Levels of Organization
1. Cellular Level
• Atoms molecules organelles cells
2. Organismal Level
• Tissues organs organ systems
3. Population Level
• Population species biological community
4. Ecosystem Level
• Biological community + physical habitat (soil, water,
atmosphere)
5. The Biosphere
• The entire planet thought of as an ecosystem
So What is Life?

It’s a question that humanity has long struggled to answer.

We’ve built philosophies and religions around it, gone to
war over it, and debated it for centuries.

Even today it is a challenge for scientists and philosophers

to define life.

The smallest contiguous unit of life is called an organism.

However the definitions of life are adapting with the field,

for example where do viruses fit in?
The idea that the Earth is alive is found in philosophy and
religion, but the first scientific discussion of it was by the
Scottish scientist James Hutton.

In 1785, he stated that the Earth was a superorganism and

that its proper study should be physiology. Hutton is
considered the father of geology, but his idea of a living
Earth was soon forgotten with the turn of the 19th century
and new understandings accompanied with new beliefs.

The Gaia hypothesis, proposed in the 1960s by scientist

James Lovelock, suggests that life on Earth functions as a
single organism that defines and maintains environmental
conditions necessary for its survival.
First Nations’ perspectives on what constitutes life comes
from Mother Earth, according to the Assembly of First
Nations.

“From the realms of the human world, the sky dwellers,

the water beings, forest creatures and all other forms of
life, the beautiful Mother Earth gives birth to, nurtures and
sustains all life.”

First Nations peoples’ have a special relationship with the

earth and all living things in it. This relationship is based
on a profound spiritual connection to Mother Earth that
guided indigenous peoples to practice reverence, humility
and reciprocity
In discussing and defining life, scientists explore scientific
definitions of life and how they change over time as a
result of advancements in technologies and scientific
understanding.

Throughout Bio 30 keep this in mind as we continue to

learn and develop understandings of life!!