Biochemistry Lecture 2: Evolution of Living Organisms

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts from the Biochemistry Lecture on the Evolution of Living Organisms.

Life

A process capable of self-sustenance, replication, and mutation.

Self-sustenance

The ability to make up for damage or loss of material in living organisms.

Replication

The process that ensures the continuity of life to prevent extinction.

Mutation

Changes in progeny that allow them to adapt under natural selection.

Habitable zone

Regions around a star where conditions may be suitable for life.

Spontaneous generation theory

The idea that life can arise from non-living matter under certain conditions.

Colonisation theory (Theory of Panspermia)

The hypothesis that life on Earth could have originated from microorganisms from elsewhere in the universe.

Chemical evolution

The formation of complex organic molecules from simpler ones.

Biological evolution

The development of a self-sustaining, self-replicating system from complex organic molecules.

Prebiotic soup

The mixture of organic compounds in the early Earth's oceans that could lead to the origin of life.

Condensation reaction

A process where two molecules combine, resulting in the removal of water.

Polymerization

The chemical process in which monomers join together to form polymers.

Protobionts

Early cellular structures that may have been the precursors to true cells.

Metabolic pathways

Scientific models of interconnected biochemical reactions in cells necessary for life.

Photosynthesis

The process by which organisms convert light energy into chemical energy, producing oxygen as a by-product.

Ribozyme

An RNA molecule capable of acting as an enzyme.

Oparin-Fox hypothesis

The idea that life originated from the aggregation of organic molecules in the primordial environment.

Amino acids

Organic compounds that serve as the building blocks of proteins.

Nucleotide bases

The building blocks of nucleic acids, which include adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine.