BM108 Foundation Biomolecular Science: Organisms, Evolution and Disease

A collection of vocabulary flashcards based on the lecture notes discussing the origins of life, evolution, and key science concepts.

Entropy

A measure of disorder in a system; the second law of thermodynamics states that disorder must always increase.

Abiogenesis

The theory that life arose from simple organic molecules in an oxygenless environment, often referred to as the 'Primordial Soup' theory.

Biological pathways

The complex series of biochemical reactions that occur within living organisms.

Photosynthesis

The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods with the help of chlorophyll.

Panspermia

The hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe and is distributed by meteoroids, asteroids, comets, planetoids, or by spacecraft.

Fermi Paradox

The apparent contradiction between the high probability of extraterrestrial life and the lack of evidence for, or contact with, such civilizations.

Cyanobacteria

A group of photosynthetic bacteria, also known as blue-green algae, important for producing oxygen in the ancient Earth.

The Great Oxidation Event

A time in Earth’s history (around 2.4 billion years ago) when oxygen levels rose significantly due to photosynthetic organisms.

RNA world

The hypothesis that early life forms were based on ribonucleic acid (RNA) and not deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

Living things

Organisms characterized by cellular organization, energy use, responsiveness to the environment, growth, reproduction, and adaptation.