Introduction to Biology

Biology
- It is the science of Life.
It was introduced independently by
Lamarck and Treviranus. The term ( Bios-
life and Logos – discourse) was first used
in 1801.
In its broadest sense Biology includes
the study of all facts relating to living
organisms; but by some authorities it is
limited to include only those principles
common to both animals and plant
 Subdivision of the Science of Biology
Biology is subdivided into sub
sciences on the basis of:

1. The nature of the organisms

studied

2. The method of their study

I. Subdivision Based on the Nature of
Organisms:
First basic division of Biology on the
nature of organisms is Botany
Botany- is the science of plant life
Subdivision of Botany
a. Agrostology – study of the grasses
b. Bacteriology – study of bacteria
c. Dendrology – study of trees
d. Mycology –study of fungi
Second Basic division of Biology on the nature
of organisms is Zoology
Zoology – is the science of animal life
Subdivision of Zoology
a. Entomology – study of insects
b. Helminthology- study of worms –
particularly parasitic
c. Ornithology – study of birds
d. Protozoology – study of unicellular
animals
II. Subdivision Based on Methods of Study
1. Organisms Studied as Individuals:
Three subdivision based upon the study of
organisms as Individual
1A. Morphology – is the study of the
structures of organisms which reflects a static
viewpoint.
Subdivision of Morphology
1. Anatomy- study of the gross structures, e.g .
organs
2. Histology – study of tissues
3. Cytology – study of cells
1B. Physiology
- Because it is the study of functions,
physiology involves a dynamic or kinetic
viewpoint. Organisms and organs are
considered from the standpoint of their
activities.
1C. Embryology
- the study of development . It is dynamic
in point of view, for it deals with changes in
form, but structures are studied at definite
points of development as if they are static.
2. Organisms Studied in Group Relations
Three Groups of subdivisions based
upon the study of organisms in group
relations
2A. Taxonomy – is the science of animal
and plant classification. With hundreds of
thousand of different kinds of plants and
animals, biologist must , for convenience
must classify them in different groups to
indicate kinds and degrees of similarity or
relationship.
2B. Distributional Studies.

Ecology is the study of the relations

between organism and environment.

Phytogeography and zoogeography

are the sciences that deals respectively,
with pant and animal distribution in a
larger geographical divisions of the earth.
2C. Genetics and Evolution.
Genetics is the study of biological
inheritance ,the degrees of similarity and
difference existing between parents and
offspring and the factors that control the
similarities and differences.
Organic Evolution is the term applied to
the progressive development of more complex
forms of life from simpler ones. It is to the race
what embryology is to the individual. The
principles that govern inheritance must, of
necessity, also be involved in evolution.
 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
Two Theories of the Origin of Life on
our planet that are not based on direct
Supernatural intervention
1. That life in simple form came to the
earth from another planet or planetary
system. Few scientists accept this theory,
however, because, even if a living particle
could travel through space, there is doubt
that it could survive the extreme cold and
the exposure to he lethal UV light.
2. The alternative theory that life arose on the
earth from non-living matter. This could have
happened about 2 billion years ago, when the
cooling plane had reached a stage- a warmer
than at present, but not too warm for a simple
living matter – at which time complex
chemical compounds could have formed
spontaneously. The steps between the non
living and living matter were probably
gradual, but must have involved, sooner or
later, the formation of enzymes and nucleic
acids which could reproduce themselves
 Evidence for the theory that life arose o the
earth from non living matter
1. It comes in part from the fact that every
chemical element that occurs in a living
matter is also a constituent of non living
matter.
2. The fact that complex compounds do
form spontaneously under certain external
conditions that undoubtedly were present as
our planet cooled.
We must remember that theories of the origin
of life are still In the realm of speculation.
 Characteristics of Life
1. Organization
Living matter has a characteristic type of
organization occurring in several levels.
Living material is called protoplasm which is
not a definite chemical compound but a complex
mixture varying in different organisms and
different parts of the same organism.
Protoplasm is aggregated in structural units
called cells, which in larger organisms are
combined to form organs. And the whole plant or
animal behaves as a unit called an organism
2. Metabolism
- is the sum total of all chemical processes
going a living matter. These processes
occur in living matter.
- Constructive(synthetic)processes
constitute anabolism and destructive
metabolism is catabolism.
3. Growth
- an excess of synthetic over destructive
processes in metabolism results in increase in
size. This process of growth does not
consists of the addition of material on the
surface but of an increase in all parts –
growth by intussusceptions.
4. Reproduction
- when a cell has grown to a characteristic size
, it divides forming two. In a one celled
organism this is reproduction. In a multi-
cellular organism it is reproduction of the
cells but only growth of the whole organism.

Reproduction in multi-cellular organisms

may take place asexually-only one parent being
involved and sexually where two parent are
involved. In either case, offspring resembling the
parent or parents are produced.
5. Irritability – Protoplasm responds to a
variety of external stimuli. It is capable of
conducting an impulse thus set up to other
parts of the cell or organism and it is
capable of contracting or responding in
some other way to the impulse.
6. Adaptation – it is the innate fitness of
an organism for the environment in which
it lives and thrives. Adaptation develops
through various evolutionary mechanisms,
and it becomes permanent through
inheritance.