Biology For Dummies, 3rd Edition

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Biology For Dummies
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Table of Contents
Cover
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: Biology Basics
Chapter 1: Exploring the Living World
It All Starts with a Cell
Life Begets Life: Reproduction and Genetics
Making the Connection between Ecosystems and
Evolution
Getting Up Close and Personal with the Anatomy and
Physiology of Animals
Comparing Plants to People
Chapter 2: How Life Is Studied
Living Things: Why Biologists Study Them and What
Defines Them
Making Sense of the World through Observations
Seeing Science as the Constant Sharing of New Ideas
Tracking Down Scientific Information
Chapter 3: The Chemistry of Life
 Exploring Why Matter Matters
Recognizing the Differences between Atoms, Elements,
and Isotopes
Molecules, Compounds, and Bonds
Acids and Bases (Not a Heavy Metal Band)
Carbon-Based Molecules: The Basis for All Life
Chapter 4: The Living Cell
An Overview of Cells
Peeking at Prokaryotes
Examining the Structure of Eukaryotic Cells
Cells and the Organelles: Not a Motown Doo-wop Group
Presenting Enzymes, the Jump-Starters
Chapter 5: Acquiring Energy to Run the
Motor
Whats Energy Got to Do with It?
Photosynthesis: Using Sunlight, Carbon Dioxide, and
Water to Make Food
Cellular Respiration: Using Oxygen to Break Down Food
for Energy
Energy and Your Body
Part 2: Lets Talk about Sex, Baby: Cell
Reproduction and Genetics
Chapter 6: Dividing to Conquer: Cell
Division
Reproduction: Keep On Keepin On
Welcome to DNA Replication 101
Cell Division: Out with the Old, In with the New
How Sexual Reproduction Creates Genetic Variation
Chapter 7: Making Mendel Proud:
Understanding Genetics
Why Youre Unique: Heritable Traits and the Factors
Affecting Them
Monking Around with Peas: Mendels Laws of
 Inheritance
Diving into the Pool of Genetic Terminology
Bearing Genetic Crosses
Studying Genetic Traits in Humans
Moving Beyond Mendel
Chapter 8: Reading the Book of Life: DNA
and Proteins
Proteins Make Traits Happen, and DNA Makes the
Proteins
Moving from DNA to RNA to Protein: The Central
Dogma of Molecular Biology
Mistakes Happen: The Consequences of Mutation
Giving Cells Some Control: Gene Regulation
Chapter 9: Engineering the Code: DNA
Technology
Understanding Just Whats Involved in DNA Technology
Mapping the Genes of Humanity
Genetically Modifying Organisms
Part 3: Its a Small, Interconnected World
Chapter 10: Exploring the Living World:
Biodiversity and Classification
Biodiversity: Recognizing How Our Differences Make
Us Stronger
Meet Your Neighbors: Looking at Life on Earth
Climbing the Tree of Life: The Classification System of
Living Things
Chapter 11: Observing How Organisms Get
Along
Ecosystems Bring It All Together
Studying Populations Is Popular in Ecology
Moving Energy and Matter around within Ecosystems
Chapter 12: Evolving Species in an Ever-
 Changing World
What People Used to Believe
How Charles Darwin Challenged Age-Old Beliefs about
Life on Earth
The Evidence for Biological Evolution
Why So Controversial? Evolution versus Creationism
How Humans Evolved
Part 4: Systems Galore! Animal Structure and
Function
Chapter 13: Pondering the Principles of
Physiology
Studying Function at All Levels of Life
Wrapping Your Head around the Big Physiological Ideas
Chapter 14: Moving and Shaking: Skeletal
and Muscular Systems
Doing the Locomotion, Animal-Style
The Types of Skeletal Systems
Why Muscles Are So Essential
Chapter 15: Going with the Flow:
Respiratory and Circulatory Systems
Passing Gas: How Animals Breathe
Circulation: Nutrients In, Garbage Out
Getting to the Heart of Simpler Animals
Exploring the Human Heart and Circulatory System
A Bloody-Important Fluid
Chapter 16: Checking Out the Plumbing:
Animal Digestive and Excretory Systems
Obtaining Food and Breaking It Down
The Ins and Outs of Digestive Systems
Traveling through the Human Digestive System
Absorbing the Stuff Your Body Needs
Whats for Dinner? Making Wise, Nutritious Food
 Choices
Exploring the Human Excretory System
Chapter 17: Fighting Back: Human Defenses
Microbial Encounters of the Best and Worst Kinds
Built to Protect You: Innate Human Defenses
Learning a Lesson: Adaptive Human Defenses
Giving Your Defenses a Helping Hand
Aging and Ailing: Changes in the Immune System
Chapter 18: The Nervous and Endocrine
Systems, Messengers Extraordinaire
The Many Intricacies of Nervous Systems
What a Sensation! The Brain and the Five Senses
Following the Path of Nerve Impulses
The Endocrine System: All Hormones Are Not Raging
Chapter 19: Reproduction 101: Making
More Animals
This Buddings for You: Asexual Reproduction
The Ins and Outs of Sexual Reproduction
How Other Animals Do It
Developing New Humans
Differentiation, Development, and Determination
Part 5: Its Not Easy Being Green: Plant
Structure and Function
Chapter 20: Living the Life of a Plant
Presenting Plant Structure
Obtaining Matter and Energy for Growth
Going It Alone: Asexual Reproduction
Mixing Sperm and Eggs: Sexual Reproduction
Chapter 21: Probing into Plant Physiology
How Nutrients, Fluids, and Sugars Move through Plants
Sending Signals with Plant Hormones
Part 6: The Part of Tens
 Chapter 22: Ten Great Biology Discoveries
Seeing the Unseen
Discovering Penicillin, the First Antibiotic
Protecting People from Smallpox
Defining DNA Structure
Finding and Fighting Defective Genes
Discovering Modern Genetic Principles
Evolving the Theory of Natural Selection
Formulating Cell Theory
Amplifying DNA with PCR
Editing DNA with CRISPR
Chapter 23: Ten Ways Biology Affects Your
Life
Keeping You Fed
Putting Microbial Enzymes to Work
Designing Genes
Powering the Planet
Causing and Treating Infectious Disease
Staying Alive
Providing You with Clean Water
Changing Physically and Mentally
Creating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Facing Extinction
About the Author
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement

Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
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