Origins of Life, Taxonomy and Viruses

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to the origins of life, taxonomy, and viruses.

Amino Acids

Building blocks of proteins that can spontaneously form under certain conditions.

Nucleotides

Building blocks of nucleic acids, like DNA and RNA, that also form spontaneously.

Covalent Bonding

Process where building blocks like amino acids connect to form larger molecules.

Biomolecules

Complex molecules such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids.

Membrane Formation

The process where complex molecules enclose materials to create cellular compartments.

Prokaryotes

Earliest forms of life on Earth, characterized by the absence of a nucleus.

Systematics

Field of science focused on classifying organisms and determining their relationships.

Taxonomy

A discipline within systematics that focuses on organizing and classifying living things.

Phylogeny

Study of evolutionary relationships among organisms, often represented by phylogenetic trees.

Morphology

Study of the form and structure of organisms, used to compare similarities and differences.

Convergent Evolution

When species evolve similar traits independently due to similar environmental pressures.

Cladistics

Method of analyzing organisms based on shared derived characteristics for building phylogenies.

Monophyletic Clade

Grouping that includes a common ancestor and all its descendants.

Derived Characters

Features that are unique to a certain lineage and not present in ancestors.

Acellular

Describes viruses that do not have cellular structures or organelles.

Obligate Parasite

An organism that can only reproduce within a host cell, such as a virus.

Virion

An individual virus particle consisting of a protein coat and nucleic acid.

Capsid

Protein layer that surrounds and protects the viral genome.

Enveloped Virus

A virus that has a lipid membrane surrounding its capsid.

RNA and DNA Analysis

Determining whether a virus has RNA or DNA based on the presence of nucleotides.

Vaccine

A biological preparation that provides acquired immunity to a particular virus.

Attenuation

The process of weakening a virus to make it safe for use in vaccines.

Genetic Vaccines

Vaccines that use viral DNA or mRNA to stimulate the immune response.