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Non-cellular life, also known as acellular life, is life that exists without a cellular structure for at least part of its life cycle. [1] Historically, most definitions of life postulated that an organism must be composed of one or more cells, [2] but, for some, this is no longer considered necessary, and modern criteria allow for forms of life based on other structural arrangements.
It does not attempt to explain how life originated, but shifts the origin of life to another heavenly body. The advantage is that life is not required to have formed on each planet it occurs on, but rather in a more limited set of locations, or even a single location, and then spread about the galaxy to other star systems via cometary or ...
Homochirality is an obvious characteristic of life on Earth, yet extraterrestrial samples contain largely racemic compounds. [7] It is not known whether homochirality existed before life, whether the building blocks of life must have this particular chirality, or whether life must be homochiral at all.
Crucial to this doctrine are the ideas that life comes from non-life and that no causal agent, such as a parent, is needed. Supposed examples included the seasonal generation of mice and other animals from the mud of the Nile, the emergence of fleas from inanimate matter such as dust, or the appearance of maggots in dead flesh.
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.
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 .
Quizlet's primary products include digital flash cards, matching games, practice electronic assessments, and live quizzes. In 2017, 1 in 2 high school students used Quizlet. [ 4 ] As of December 2021, Quizlet has over 500 million user-generated flashcard sets and more than 60 million active users.
This glossary of biology terms is a list of definitions of fundamental terms and concepts used in biology, the study of life and of living organisms.It is intended as introductory material for novices; for more specific and technical definitions from sub-disciplines and related fields, see Glossary of cell biology, Glossary of genetics, Glossary of evolutionary biology, Glossary of ecology ...