Biology For Dummies
John Wiley & Sons Inc (Verlag)
978-1-119-34537-4 (ISBN)
* Discover how living things work * Think like a biologist and use scientific methods * Understand lifecycle processes Whether you're enrolled in a biology class or just want to know more about this fascinating and ever-evolving field of study, Biology For Dummies will help you unlock the mysteries of how life works.
Rene Fester Kratz, PhD, teaches biology at Everett Community College. Dr. Kratz holds a PhD in Botany from the University of Washington. She works with other scientists and K 12 teachers to develop science curricula that align with national learning standards and the latest research on human learning.
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Biology Basics 5
Chapter 1: Exploring the Living World 7
It All Starts with a Cell 8
Life Begets Life: Reproduction and Genetics 8
Making the Connection between Ecosystems and Evolution 9
Getting Up Close and Personal with the Anatomy and Physiology of Animals 10
Comparing Plants to People 11
Chapter 2: How Life Is Studied 13
Living Things: Why Biologists Study Them and What Defines Them 13
Defining what it means to be alive 14
Getting savvy about systems 16
Making Sense of the World through Observations 17
Introducing the scientific method 18
Designing experiments 20
Seeing Science as the Constant Sharing of New Ideas 24
Tracking Down Scientific Information 25
Journals: Not just for recording dreams 25
Textbooks: A student’s go-to source 26
The popular press: Not always accurate 26
The Internet: A wealth of information, not all of it good 27
Chapter 3: The Chemistry of Life 29
Exploring Why Matter Matters 29
Recognizing the Differences between Atoms, Elements, and Isotopes 31
“Bohr”ing you with atoms 31
Elements of elements 32
I so dig isotopes 34
Molecules, Compounds, and Bonds 34
Acids and Bases (Not a Heavy Metal Band) 35
“Ph”iguring out the pH scale 36
Buffing up on buffers 37
Carbon-Based Molecules: The Basis for All Life 38
Providing energy: Carbohydrates 39
Making life possible: Proteins 42
Drawing the cellular road map: Nucleic acids 44
Supplying structure, energy, and more: Lipids 47
Chapter 4: The Living Cell 49
An Overview of Cells 49
Peeking at Prokaryotes 51
Examining the Structure of Eukaryotic Cells 52
Cells and the Organelles: Not a Motown Doo-wop Group 54
Holding it all together: The plasma membrane 55
Supporting the cell: The cytoskeleton 59
Controlling the show: The nucleus 59
Creating proteins: Ribosomes 60
Serving as the cell’s factory: The endoplasmic reticulum 60
Preparing products for distribution: The Golgi apparatus 61
Cleaning up the trash: Lysosomes 61
Destroying toxins: Peroxisomes 62
Providing energy, ATP-style: Mitochondria 62
Converting energy: Chloroplasts 62
Presenting Enzymes, the Jump-Starters 63
Staying the same 64
. . . while lowering activation energy 65
Getting some help from cofactors and coenzymes 65
Controlling enzymes through feedback inhibition 66
Chapter 5: Acquiring Energy to Run the Motor 67
What’s Energy Got to Do with It? 67
Looking at the rules regarding energy 68
Metabolizing molecules 69
Transferring energy with ATP 69
Consuming food for matter and energy 70
Finding food versus producing your own 71
Photosynthesis: Using Sunlight, Carbon Dioxide, and Water to Make Food 72
Transforming energy from the ultimate energy source 74
Putting matter and energy together 74
Cellular Respiration: Using Oxygen to Break Down Food for Energy 75
Breaking down food 77
Transferring energy to ATP 78
Energy and Your Body 79
Part 2: Let’s Talk about Sex, Baby: Cell Reproduction and Genetics 81
Chapter 6: Dividing to Conquer: Cell Division 83
Reproduction: Keep On Keepin’ On 83
Welcome to DNA Replication 101 84
Cell Division: Out with the Old, In with the New 88
Interphase: Getting organized 88
Mitosis: One for you, and one for you 91
Meiosis: It’s all about sex, baby 93
How Sexual Reproduction Creates Genetic Variation 98
Mutations 99
Crossing-over 99
Independent assortment 99
Fertilization 100
Nondisjunction 100
Pink and blue chromosomes 101
Chapter 7: Making Mendel Proud: Understanding Genetics 103
Why You’re Unique: Heritable Traits and the Factors Affecting Them 103
“Monk”ing Around with Peas: Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance 105
Pure breeding the parentals 105
Analyzing the F1 and F2 generations 106
Reviewing Mendel’s results 106
Diving into the Pool of Genetic Terminology 107
Bearing Genetic Crosses 108
Studying Genetic Traits in Humans 111
Creating pedigree charts 111
Drawing conclusions about traits 113
Moving Beyond Mendel 113
All the shades of gray in between: Polygenic inheritance 114
When blue and yellow make green: Incomplete dominance 115
Share and share alike: Co-dominance 116
Boys vs girls: Sex-linked inheritance 117
Chapter 8: Reading the Book of Life: DNA and Proteins 119
Proteins Make Traits Happen, and DNA Makes the Proteins 119
Moving from DNA to RNA to Protein: The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology 120
Rewriting DNA’s message: Transcription 121
Putting on the finishing touches: RNA processing 124
Converting the code to the right language: Translation 124
Mistakes Happen: The Consequences of Mutation 130
Giving Cells Some Control: Gene Regulation 132
Adapting to environmental changes 133
Becoming an expert through differentiation 133
Chapter 9: Engineering the Code: DNA Technology 135
Understanding Just What’s Involved in DNA Technology 136
Cutting DNA with restriction enzymes 136
Using gel electrophoresis to separate molecules 136
Copying a gene with PCR 138
Reading a gene with DNA sequencing 141
Mapping the Genes of Humanity 143
Genetically Modifying Organisms 145
Combining DNA from different sources 145
Using vectors to send in the genes 146
Editing genes with CRISPR-cas 148
The pros and cons of GMOs 151
Part 3: It’s a Small, Interconnected World 155
Chapter 10: Exploring the Living World: Biodiversity and Classification 157
Biodiversity: Recognizing How Our Differences Make Us Stronger 157
Valuing biodiversity 158
Surveying the threats posed by human actions 159
Exploring the extinction of species 160
Protecting biodiversity 161
Meet Your Neighbors: Looking at Life on Earth 162
Unsung heroes: Bacteria 162
A bacterial impersonator: Archaeans 163
A taste of the familiar: Eukaryotes 163
Pirates of the living world: Viruses 165
Climbing the Tree of Life: The Classification System of Living Things 167
Mastering the domains 168
Organizing life into smaller and smaller groups 169
Playing the name game 172
Chapter 11: Observing How Organisms Get Along 173
Ecosystems Bring It All Together 173
Biomes: Communities of life 174
Why can’t we be friends: Interactions between species 176
Studying Populations Is Popular in Ecology 177
Reviewing the basic concepts of population ecology 177
Discovering how populations grow 180
Taking a closer look at the human population 184
Moving Energy and Matter around within Ecosystems 187
Going with the (energy) flow 189
Cycling matter through ecosystems 192
Chapter 12: Evolving Species in an Ever-Changing World 197
What People Used to Believe 198
How Charles Darwin Challenged Age-Old Beliefs about Life on Earth 199
Owing it all to the birds 199
Darwin’s theory of biological evolution 200
The idea of natural selection 201
The Evidence for Biological Evolution 204
Biochemistry 205
Comparative anatomy 205
Geographic distribution of species 206
Molecular biology 207
Fossil record 208
Observable data 208
Radioisotope dating 209
Why So Controversial? Evolution versus Creationism 209
How Humans Evolved 211
Fossil finds 212
Digging into DNA 214
Check out the big brain on the Homo sapiens 215
Part 4: Systems Galore! Animal Structure and Function 217
Chapter 13: Pondering the Principles of Physiology 219
Studying Function at All Levels of Life 219
Wrapping Your Head around the Big Physiological Ideas 221
Evolving the perfect form 221
Balancing the body to maintain homeostasis 222
Getting the message across plasma membranes 224
Recognizing that what comes in, must go out 225
Chapter 14: Moving and Shaking: Skeletal and Muscular Systems 227
Doing the Locomotion, Animal-Style 227
The Types of Skeletal Systems 228
Splitting apart vertebrate skeletons 229
Boning up on bones 229
Joining the movement fun 232
Why Muscles Are So Essential 232
Muscle tissue and physiology 233
Muscle contraction 235
Chapter 15: Going with the Flow: Respiratory and Circulatory Systems 239
Passing Gas: How Animals “Breathe” 240
Integumentary exchange 240
Gills 241
Tracheal exchange systems 241
Lungs 242
Circulation: Nutrients In, Garbage Out 245
Open circulatory systems 245
Closed circulatory systems 245
Getting to the Heart of Simpler Animals 246
A worm’s heart and circulatory system 246
A fish’s heart and circulatory system 247
Exploring the Human Heart and Circulatory System 247
Entering the cardiac cycle 250
Navigating the path of blood through the body 251
Seeing what makes your ticker tick 254
A Bloody-Important Fluid 255
The solids found in your essential fluid 255
The plasma “stream” in your bloodstream 257
How blood clots form 257
Chapter 16: Checking Out the Plumbing: Animal Digestive and Excretory Systems 259
Obtaining Food and Breaking It Down 260
The Ins and Outs of Digestive Systems 261
Incomplete versus complete digestive tracts 261
Continuous versus discontinuous feeders 262
Traveling through the Human Digestive System 262
The busiest stop of all — your mouth 262
The inner workings of your stomach 264
The long and winding road of your small intestine 265
Absorbing the Stuff Your Body Needs 266
How nutrients travel through your body 266
Glucose regulation 267
What’s for Dinner? Making Wise, Nutritious Food Choices 268
Carbohydrates: The culprits of your food cravings 268
Proteins: You break down their chains; they build yours 269
Fats: You need some, but don’t overdo it 270
Minerals and vitamins: The fuel for your enzymes 272
Exploring the Human Excretory System 272
Getting to know your large intestine and how it eliminates solid wastes 273
Flowing through how your kidneys remove nitrogenous wastes 274
Chapter 17: Fighting Back: Human Defenses 277
Microbial Encounters of the Best and Worst Kinds 278
Good bacteria: Health helpers 278
Bad bacteria: Health harmers 278
Viruses: Conquering one cell at a time 279
Built to Protect You: Innate Human Defenses 279
Your body’s best blockers: Skin and mucous membranes 280
Tiny but mighty: Molecular defenders 281
Microbe seeker-outers: Dendritic cells 282
Invader eaters, big and small: Phagocytes 282
Damage control: Inflammation 283
A fluid filterer: The lymphatic system 283
Learning a Lesson: Adaptive Human Defenses 285
Commanders-in-chief: Helper T cells 285
Soldiers on the march: B cells and antibodies 286
Cellular assassins: Cytotoxic T cells 287
Giving Your Defenses a Helping Hand 288
Killing bacteria with antibiotics 288
Fighting viruses with antiviral drugs 290
Getting ahead of the game with vaccines 290
Aging and Ailing: Changes in the Immune System 292
Chapter 18: The Nervous and Endocrine Systems, Messengers Extraordinaire 295
The Many Intricacies of Nervous Systems 296
Distinguishing between the CNS and PNS 296
Branching out to study neuron structure 298
Processing signals with the three types of neurons 298
Acting without thinking 300
What a Sensation! The Brain and the Five Senses 300
Oooh, that smell: Olfaction 301
Mmm, mmm, good: Taste 302
Now hear this: Sound 303
Seeing is believing: Sight 303
A touchy-feely subject: Touch 304
Following the Path of Nerve Impulses 305
Traveling from one end to the other 305
Jumping the gap between neurons 307
The Endocrine System: All Hormones Are Not Raging 309
Seeing how hormones work 310
Surveying the general functions of hormones 311
Chapter 19: Reproduction 101: Making More Animals 313
This Budding’s for You: Asexual Reproduction 313
The Ins and Outs of Sexual Reproduction 314
Getting to know gametes 315
Mating rituals and other preparations for the big event 317
How humans mate 321
How Other Animals Do It 325
Developing New Humans 327
From single cells to blastocyst 327
Go, go, embryo 329
Fetal development and birth 329
Differentiation, Development, and Determination 330
The ability to become any type of cell 331
The factors that affect differentiation and development 332
Gender differentiation in humans 333
Part 5: It’s Not Easy Being Green: Plant Structure and Function 337
Chapter 20: Living the Life of a Plant 339
Presenting Plant Structure 339
Plant tissues 340
The types of plants 340
Herbaceous versus woody stems 342
Obtaining Matter and Energy for Growth 344
Going It Alone: Asexual Reproduction 345
Mixing Sperm and Eggs: Sexual Reproduction 345
The life of a plant 346
The parts of a flower 347
How pollination and fertilization occur 349
From zygote to embryo 350
A little protection for the embryo: Seeds 350
Chapter 21: Probing into Plant Physiology 351
How Nutrients, Fluids, and Sugars Move through Plants 351
Taking an inventory of the nutrients plants need to survive 352
Transporting water and other nutrients from the ground up 353
Translocating sugars upward and downward through the phloem 355
Controlling water loss 357
Sending Signals with Plant Hormones 358
Part 6: The Part of Tens 361
Chapter 22: Ten Great Biology Discoveries 363
Seeing the Unseen 363
Discovering Penicillin, the First Antibiotic 364
Protecting People from Smallpox 364
Defining DNA Structure 364
Finding and Fighting Defective Genes 365
Discovering Modern Genetic Principles 365
Evolving the Theory of Natural Selection 365
Formulating Cell Theory 366
Amplifying DNA with PCR 366
Editing DNA with CRISPR 366
Chapter 23: Ten Ways Biology Affects Your Life 369
Keeping You Fed 369
Putting Microbial Enzymes to Work 370
Designing Genes 370
Powering the Planet 370
Causing and Treating Infectious Disease 371
Staying Alive 371
Providing You with Clean Water 372
Changing Physically and Mentally 372
Creating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria 373
Facing Extinction 373
Index 375
| Erscheinungsdatum | 27.04.2017 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | New York |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 189 x 233 mm |
| Gewicht | 542 g |
| Einbandart | kartoniert |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik ► Naturwissenschaft |
| Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-119-34537-5 / 1119345375 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-119-34537-4 / 9781119345374 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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