Week 1: All lectures

Understand the scientific process

Research → Hypothesis → experiment → results/draw conclusions → hypothesis supported OR not supported → report results

Seven Properties of Life

Cellular organization, reproduction, growth and development, metabolism, homeostasis, response to environment, evolutionary adaptation

5 unifying themes of biology

Organization, information, Energy and matter, interactions, evolution

Organization

Basic units of structure define the function of all living things - cell most basic - structure drives function

Information

Growth and behaviour of organisms are activated through the expression of genetic information in context

Energy and Matter

Biological systems grow and change based upon chemical transformation pathways and are governed by the laws of thermodynamics.

Interactions

Living systems are interconnected and interacting

Interaction example

Between a plant and external environment- Take sunlight → water + minerals from soil → animals will interact with the plant (eat it) and the nutrients will return to the soil

Evolution

The diversity of life evolved over time by processes of mutation, selection, and genetic change

Evolution is described by the theory of natural selection..

The enviroment selects for beneficial and heritable traits

Subatomic particle

bits of matter that together form an element

Molecule

Two or more atoms connected by covalent bonds

Covalent bonds

The sharing of a air of valence electrons by two atoms

Polar covalent bonds

A covalent bond where the electrons are not shared equally

Hydrogen bonds

Interaction between an electropositive hydrogen and an electronegative atom

Van er Waals interactions

Weak interactions occurring temporarily changed atoms or molecules

Chemical Reaction

Making or breaking of chemical bonds, leading to a change in the composition of matter - matter is conserved: but energy is either required or produced. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration

Why are properties of water so unique

As a result of extensive hydrogen bonding

Water - Cohesive Behaviour

Hydrogen bonding gives water unusual structure, holding the substance together. Helps water travels up the stem of a plant.

Thermal Energy

Kinetic energy of randomly moving atoms/molecules; the average kinetic energy of a body of matter is referred to as temperature.

Heat

The transfer of thermal energy from one body of matter to another A small change in the temperature of water requires a lot of heat.

Water freezing

Water is less dense as a solid than a liquid, prevent bodes of water from completely freezing

Amphipathic

Both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions

Organic molecules

Molecules containing carbon (wth some exceptions) - carbon has 4 valence electrons

Hydrocarbon

Molecules that consist of just carbon and hydrogen - however they can widely differ in structures (Lengths, bonds, shape)

Isomer

Molecules with the same chemical makeup but different organization - cis- hydrogen on same side trans- hydrogen on opposite sides

Functional groups

Groups of atoms with special chemistry/function regardless of larger molecule to which it belongs - helps determine the function of organic compounds

How to atoms and molecules interact?

They interact via bonds that can either be strong or weak, and the formation or breakage of bonds is called reaction.

What makes water so unique and important?

Hydrogen bonding is responsible for the four emergent properties of water that are essential for life on earth

What is the importance of carbon to the diversity of life and the structure of organic molecules.

Carbo is unique in its ability to form complex molecules and the structure of organic molecules determines their function

Large molecules known as macromolecules have 4 types

Lipids carbohydrates nucleic acids proteins

Polymer

Long molecule made of repeating similar building blocks \ can be made or degraded through dehydration reactions and by hydrolysis reactions

Lipids characteristics

Hydrophobic and mix poorly with water and not polymers - functions in cell structure, energy storage, and cell signalling ex. Triglycerides, phospholipids, steroids and waxes

Lipids-fats (triglycerides)

Consist of three fatty acids covalently bonded to glycerol ( a carbohydrate)- saturated -single bonds unsaturated- double bonds

Lipids - phospholipids

Consist of two fatty acids and a phosphate group covalently bonded to glycerol - amphipathic molecules that form the basis of cell membrane

What would be the impact of increasing the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids in a cell membrane?

The fluidity of the membrane would increase as unsaturated fatty acids cannot pack together as closely\

Lipids-steroids

Consist of four fused rings

Carbohydrates

Monomers and polymers of sugars - used for energy generation and storage, raw material for biological molecules, and for cell and organism structure

Carbohydrates - sugars - Monosaccharide

A single sugar monomer - generally has a chemical formula that is a multiple of CH2O

Carbohydrates - sugars - disaccharide

Two monosaccharides connected via covalent a glycosidic linkages - used for energy production and the raw material for other compounds

Carbohydrates - Polysaccharides

A polymer of ten to thousands of monosaccharides joined by glycosidic linkages - energy storage compounds, like starch (plants) and glycogen (animals) or structural components of cells like cellulose

Nucleic acids

Polymers of nucleotides - deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) - genetic material of all life on Earth

Nucleic Acids - Nucleotides

Monomers of nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar, and >1 phosphate molecule - Sugar in RNA is ribose, while the sugar in DNA is deoxyribose. Pyrimidines: Nitrogenous base consists of one ring Purines: Nitrogenous base consists of two fused rings

Nucleic Acids - structure

Connected via phosphodiester linkages in nucleic acid polymers - DNA two strands double helix RNA single strands can form complex secondary structures

Nucleic acids - function

Storage and transmission of hereditary information

What is a Gene

Stretch of DNA encoding a specific RNA or protein

What is gene expression

Production of RNA and then proteins from a gene

Proteins/polypeptides

Polymers of amino acids

Proteins - amino acids

20 primary amino acids that are found in proteins - four features: alpha-carbon, amino group, carboxyl group, side chain

protein - Stucture

Amino acids covalently bonded via peptide bonds - multiple levels of organization: primary: linear chain of amino acids secondary: regions stabilized by hydrogen bonds between atoms of the polypeptide backbone tertiary: three dimensional shape stabilized by interactions between amino acid side chains quaternary: association of two or more polypeptides (only some proteins)

What polymers are, and the types of reactions involved in synthesizing and degrading polymers.

Polymers consist of repeating units (monomers) joined via dehydration reactions (ester linkages, glycoside linkages, phosphodiester linkages, peptides.)

Monomer

Individual building block in a polymer

Enantiomers

Mirror image molecules that form when carbon is covalently bonded to 4 atoms or groups of atoms