Lecture I:
Introduction to
Modern Biology
Scientific Method,
Characteristics of Life,
Application of Biology
to Engineering Field
Learning Objectives:
1. Define biology.
2. Enumerate the characteristics of life and
explain the significance of each.
3. Explain the principles involved in the
scientific inquiry.
4. Assess the importance of studying biology as
applied to engineering field
Scope and Properties of Life
•Life is structured on a scale ranging
from the molecular to the global.
•Biology is the scientific study of life.
•Biology covers the wide range
diversity of life on earth.
What is Biology?
• Biology is the study of life
and living organisms. The
word biology is derived
from the Greek word
“bios”, which means life,
and “logos”, which means
study.
What is Biology?
• It is a study of the organism’s
physical components and
structure and delves into their
chemical processes and molecular
interactions. It is a natural science
that studies the physiological
mechanisms, development and
evolution of all life forms.
Biology: The scientific study of life
• An animal or
plant, or any
living thing is
called an
organism.
Biology as a “unified science of life”
Biology is a vast subject that takes up a wide array of
disciplines and specializations. However, despite its many
branches and broad scope, unifying concepts serve as
strong guiding principles and influences over all recent
study and research:
1. The basic unit of life is cell
2. The basic unit of heredity are genes, composed of DNA or
RNA.
Biology as a “unified science of life”
3. A stable internal environment is found in all organisms –
4. Evolution is responsible for the unity and diversity among
living organisms.
5. All organisms survive by energy absorption and
conversion.
Branches of
Biology
• Molecular biology and biochemistry
biological processes at the molecular and chemical level, including
interactions among molecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, as well as
the way they are regulated.
• Microbiology
study of microorganisms, is the study of the structure and function of
single-
celled organisms.
• Neurobiology
studies the biology of the nervous system
different functions of the nervous system using molecular,
cellular, developmental, medical, and computational
approaches.
• Paleontology
uses fossils to study life’s history
• Zoology and botany
study of animals and plants
Branches of
Biology
• Anatomy
It allows in individual to understand the structure and the parts of organism including
animals, human beings, and living organism.
• Taxonomy
It deals with categorizing and naming different organism based on their
characteristic.
• Mycology
Scientific study of fungi.
• Phycology
It is the scientific study of algae.
• Parasitology
Branches of biology and medicine that works to understand parasitic
organism that live and feed on the host.
Branches of
Biology
• Virology
Deals with the study of viruses and viral diseases.
• Physiology
Studies the normal functions of various parts of living organism.
• Theoretical Biology
Scientific research with application of medicine, biology, and biotechnology
and is a lucrative option when considering the branches of biology.
• Ecology
Deals with the interaction of living organism such as plants, animals
including humans and microbial populations with one another with their
physical environment.
Biology Pioneers
• Aristotle
• Gregor Mendel
• Charles Darwin
• Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek
• Joseph Lister
• Louis Pasteur
Scientific
AnInquiry
approach to understandd the
natural world and predicting
natural phenomena.
Science limits itself to ideas that
can be tested through verifiable
observations. Supernatural claims
that events are caused by ghosts,
devils, God, or other spiritual
entities cannot be tested in this
way.
Methods of Scientific
Inquiry and
▪ Experiments
Hypotheses
▪ Forming a Hypothesis
▪ Experimental Design
▪ Experimental
Variables
▪ Interpreting Results
Gathering Data
Methods of Scientific
▪ Experiments
Inquiry and
Hypotheses
carefully organized
procedure in which
the scientist
intervenes in a
system to change
something, then
observes the result
of the change.
Methods of Scientific
Inquiry
▪ Forming a
Hypothesis
a suggested
explanation that is
must be both
testable and
falsifiable.
possible to prove
your hypothesis
true or false.
Methods of Scientific
Inquiry
Experimental Design
how you will test
the hypothesis
and find the
answer to the
question or
problem.
The plan should
include a
description of, or
information
Methods of Scientific
Inquiry Variables
Experimental
-identified to make sure the results are
accurate (correct) and that the experiment
could be repeated in exactly the same way,
with the same results.
Three types of variables:
• manipulated
• responding
• controlled
Methods of Scientific
Inquiry
Interpreting Results
• Gather data and record observations
Quantitative data: observations and facts
that can be easily measured.
Qualitative data: observations that cannot be
easily measured
• Interpret data
answering the question and responding to your
hypothesis with information discovered by
conducting the experiment
drawing conclusions or inferences based on
what you learned.
The Characteristics of
Life What do all
living
things have
in common?
Which of these are alive?
Reproduce & develop
Organize
d
Homeostatic
All life generally shares
the following
characteristics
Requires materials & Responds
stimuli to
energy
Adapt to
Life Requires Materials and
Energy
The food we eat provides nutrients, which cells use as
blocks or for energy—the capacity to do
building
work.
The metabolismis used to describe all of the
term chemical
reactions that occur in a
cell.
Plants and certain other organisms are able to capture
solar
energy and carry onphotosynthesi, a process that
solar energy into thes chemical energy of organic
transforms
nutrient
molecules
.
1. Adaptation through evolution
All forms of life evolve. They adapt to the
external environment, change their
heritable traits, and prepare future
generations for more efficient life
processes.
2. Cellular organization
• The general structures move along a line from cell
to tissue to organ to being, which gives us the word
“organism,” a living thing with organ systems.
• Cellular organization is seen in something as simple
as a fungus cell. From simple bacteria up to
mammals, life uses cellular organization.
3. Growth and development
• Living things grow. To conserve resources, organisms
reproduce with immature and small copies of themselves.
Without straining the parent organism, these small copies
gather their own resources to grow, enlarge, mature, age,
and reproduce themselves.
• Humans are excellent examples of growth and
development. Eventually, organisms die, returning their
gathered resources to the earth for reuse by new
organisms.
4. Heredity
• Life transfers
characteristics to offspring
via deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA) and ribonucleic
acid (RNA); these are the
building blocks of life.
• This genetic material
holds our genetic
information such as eye
color, skin color, and hair
type
5. Homeostasis
Maintaining a stable internal environment
Your body, like that of a cat or a cactus, must
maintaina stable environment inside.
6. Metabolism
an organism’s chemical reactions
▪ Chemical reactions inside cells, tissues,
organs, and living beings perform
various actions that keep the organism
alive.
▪ These reactions break down incoming
food, send nutrients to cells, remove
waste products, transform energy, and
synthesize new chemicals.
▪ Together, these processes lead to
growth,
system repair, and excretion.
▪ Photosynthesis in plants is a metabolic
7. Reproduction
• Reproduction can be either asexual, involving a single
parent organism, or sexual, requiring two parents.
• Single-celled organisms, like the dividing bacterium
can reproduce themselves simply by splitting in two!
8. Response To
Stimuli
• Living organisms show “irritability,” meaning that they
respond to stimuli or changes in their environment.
• Many plants turn toward the sun; and unicellular
organisms may migrate toward a source of nutrients or
away from a noxious chemical.
Application of Biology to Engineering
• Field
Biotechnology and
bioengineering are
interdisciplinary fields that apply
engineering principles to
biological systems.
• Biotechnology uses living
organisms to develop products,
while bioengineering specifically
applies engineering to address
challenges in biology and
medicine.
Modern
Biology
