Basic Requirements of Life
- Complex organization: Living things have one or more cells with a complex series of organs.
- Metabolism: Provides energy to the organism through an exchange of chemical matter.
- Responsiveness: Living organisms can respond to stimuli.
- Growth: Using energy from the metabolic process all living organisms show some sort of growth.
- Reproduction: One of the main goals of a living things is to produce some sort of offspring whether through asexual or sexual reproduction.
- Evolution: A population of living things can adapt to their environments through evolution.
Review Major Concepts
1. What are the requirements for life? Cellular; Replication; Inherit traits; Make ATP from “food”; Sense and respond to the environment;
2. How many genes and proteins are required for life in general? How many required for a specific life?
human genome: A human haploid cell contains around 3 billion DNA base pairs, thus a diploid cell contains around 6 billion.
A human haploid cell contains around 20,000 protein-coding genes, thus a diploid cell contains around 40,000.
3. Every species has some general genes for the above basic requirements – but also has it’s own requirements for living in a specific environment, with a unique body plan, and therefore has genes that are unique to its species.
2. How many genes and proteins are required for life in general? How many required for a specific life?
human genome: A human haploid cell contains around 3 billion DNA base pairs, thus a diploid cell contains around 6 billion.
A human haploid cell contains around 20,000 protein-coding genes, thus a diploid cell contains around 40,000.
3. Every species has some general genes for the above basic requirements – but also has it’s own requirements for living in a specific environment, with a unique body plan, and therefore has genes that are unique to its species.