Introduction to Biology: Genetic Information, Energy Flow, Evolution, and Scientific Inquiry

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts of molecular biology, gene expression, energy flow, domains of life, evolution, natural selection, and the scientific process based on lecture notes.

Inheritance of Genetic Material

The process by which egg and sperm cells containing DNA combine during fertilization to yield an embryo whose cells carry copies of DNA inherited from both parents.

Nucleotides

The four types of chemical building blocks (abbreviated A, C, T, and G) arranged in long chains to form DNA molecules.

Gene Expression

The process by which cells use information encoded in a gene to synthesize a functional protein, involving transcription into mRNA, translation into a chain of amino acids, and protein folding.

Transcription

The phase of gene expression in which a cell uses the nucleotide sequence of DNA to synthesize a complementary RNA molecule called mRNA.

Translation

The phase of gene expression where the cell decodes the sequence of mRNA nucleotides to synthesize a protein made of linked amino acids.

Consumers

Organisms that obtain energy and nutrients by feeding on plants or other organisms within an ecosystem.

Decomposers

Organisms in an ecosystem that break down dead organic matter and return essential chemicals to the soil.

Energy Flow and Chemical Cycling

An ecosystem process where energy flows in one direction (entering as light from the sun and exiting as heat) while chemical elements continuously cycle between organisms and the abiotic environment.

Feedback

A biological self-regulation mechanism through which biological processes control their operations via interactions between system components.

Evolution

The core theme of biology that provides a scientific explanation for both the unity and diversity of life, based on the concept that living organisms are modified descendants of common ancestors.

Three Domains of Life

The overarching classification system that divides all living organisms into Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya.

Domain Eukarya

The domain comprising eukaryotic organisms divided into four main subgroups: Kingdom Plantae, Kingdom Fungi, Kingdom Animalia, and Protists.

Structural Unity in Cilia

An illustration of life's underlying unity shown by the identical internal cross-sectional structure of cilia shared between single-celled organisms like Paramecium and human windpipe cells.

Charles Darwin

The naturalist who published 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection' in 1859, proposing descent with modification and natural selection as the mechanism of evolution.

Natural Selection

The evolutionary mechanism by which environmental pressures select for individuals with beneficial, inherited traits, leading to higher survival, reproduction, and trait frequency in a population over generations.

Process of Science

A dynamic and iterative inquiry framework centered on forming and testing hypotheses, interacting with exploration/discovery, community analysis and feedback, and societal outcomes.