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Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from matter that does not. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis , organisation , metabolism , growth , adaptation , response to stimuli , and reproduction .
Biological processes are those processes that are necessary for an organism to live and that shape its capacities for interacting with its environment. Biological processes are made of many chemical reactions or other events that are involved in the persistence and transformation of life forms. [1]
Biologists can study life at multiple levels of organization, [1] from the molecular biology of a cell to the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals, and the evolution of populations. [1] [6] Hence, there are multiple subdisciplines within biology, each defined by the nature of their research questions and the tools that they use.
Anatomical knowledge is important in physiology because the structure and function of an organism are often dictated by one another. Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and substances that occur within living organisms. Knowledge of biochemistry provides the foundation for understanding cellular and molecular processes that are ...
Life functions through the specialized chemistry of carbon and water, and builds largely upon four key families of chemicals: lipids for cell membranes, carbohydrates such as sugars, amino acids for protein metabolism, and nucleic acid DNA and RNA for the mechanisms of heredity. Any successful theory of abiogenesis must explain the origins and ...
In this sense, the exponential trend of the growth curve reveals the presence of a long-term positive feedback among growth, accumulation, and innovation; and the emergence of new structures and institutions connected to the multi-scale process of growth.
The process of forming an actual entity is the case based on the existing datums. Concretion process can be regarded as subjectification process. [24] Datum is a term coined by Whitehead to show the different variants of information possessed by actual entity. In process philosophy, datum is obtained through the events of concrescence.
Ecosystems are complex adaptive systems where the interaction of life processes form self-organizing patterns across different scales of time and space. [69] Ecosystems are broadly categorized as terrestrial, freshwater, atmospheric, or marine. Differences stem from the nature of the unique physical environments that shapes the biodiversity ...