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Conceptual Framework for Biolgy: A Concise Outline

1) Living organisms are individuals made of chemical systems (lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic
acids). Each individual has the unique ability to self-replicate to the limits of the finite resources of
its environment.
a) The 92 naturally-occurring chemical elements (that compose living organisms) are not
distributed evenly on the Earth and have not existed for all time.
2) The cell is the smallest unit of life that is capable of independent existence; it is a structure
surrounded by membranes within which the chemical reactions that define life occur.
3) Living organisms depend completely and absolutely upon the environment for the resources (food,
water, shelter) necessary for life.
a) Living organisms are made of molecules that are found in the Earth's crust (mostly carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus).
b) These molecules continuously cycle from the environment to organism to organism to
environment in a closed loop between life and death with sunlight powering the system.
4) Living organisms acquire the energy necessary for maintenance, growth, and reproduction almost
completely from the Sun. Energy passes through our system; it is not cycled in a closed loop.
a) Not all living organisms can use the Sun directly for energy; this ability is restricted mainly to
green plants (autotrophs), which have the ability to synthesize their food from inorganic
molecules.
b) Living organisms that cannot make their own food are called heterotrophs that live at the
expense of autotrophs; using them directly or indirectly for energy.
5) There is a continuous change throughout the basic life cycle of all living organisms; “birth”,
growth, and death.
a) The changes are most dramatic in early development but continue more slowly through adult-
hood and cease in old age resulting in death for every living organism.
b) Since death occurs in every living organism, these changes must be genetically programmed
and must also have an evolutionary reason.
6) Living organisms self-replicate by transmitting a genetic program from one generation to
succeeding generations.
7) Since life is encapsulated by individuals, these individuals will struggle for finite resources and
their success is measured ONLY by their ability to survive and leave progeny (Evolution through
Natural Selection).
a) Biologically programmed death makes way for new individuals, each one a new experiment in
genetic programs seeking better ability to secure resources and leave offspring.
8) The basic instructions for life are encoded in genes; sequences of nucleotides in RNA and DNA
which control the synthesis of proteins and other molecules.
9) DNA transmits the genetic code with great, but not absolute, fidelity. Occasionally, a mutation in
the code is reflected in the physical expression of the genes – the phenotype.
a) Mutations are almost always fatal to the new organism. Only a few mutations result in viable
offspring.
b) If the new phenotype (an individual organism) is better able to obtain resources in its
environment (habitat) or better able to obtain resources in a new habitat, this “new” genotype
will have a better chance to survive and leave offspring (having the new genotype).
10) Living organisms could, in theory, produce populations of individuals that would increase to a size
that would vastly exceed the ability of the environment to provide the resources required for life
(exceed the carrying capacity). This would result in a struggle among individuals for resources and
a tendency to reach population sizes that use up these resources completely.
11) Adaptation to new habitats reduces the struggle for resources but, eventually, the reproductive
potential will again bring the population to the carrying capacity of the new habitat and the level of
struggle for resources will be increased as well.
12) Although the basic features/structures of life: cell structure, inheritance (based on DNA), and
cellular function (based on DNA, RNA, and enzymes/proteins), are conserved through time in ALL
organisms, there are MANY variations on the basic plan.
13) Two basic approaches to life: single-cell organisms and multi-cell organisms.
a) Single-cell organisms are always within a very short distance of resources and waste disposal
(one membrane away from the outside) but multi-cell organisms require complex adjustments
to provide the interior cells with resources and waste removal (by-products of cellular
respiration).
b) These adjustments maintain a constant environment (sufficient resources and waste disposal)
inside each cell. This is called homeostasis.
14) The long history of interaction between genetic diversity and natural selection has resulted in the
biodiversity that we see today.
15) In humans (and many other organisms) homeostasis is maintained by complex interactions between
and among organ systems (organisms): respiration, digestion, excretion, circulation, and
coordination.
16) Humans share with ALL organisms (animals and plants) an absolute dependence upon the
environment for the resources necessary for life.

Extracted from: Moore, John. A. 1988. A conceptual framework for biology – part 1. In, Science as a way of knowing:
an ongoing project of the committee on education of the American society of zoologists. San Francisco.

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