Biology essentials / Rene Kratz and Donna Rae Siegfried ; with Medhane Cumbay and Traci Cumbay.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fester Kratz, Rene.

Siegfried, Donna Rae, author.

Contributor:

Cumbay, Medhane, contributor.

Cumbay, Traci, contributor.

Series:

--For dummies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (195 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, c2019.

Hoboken, New Jersey : For Dummies, [2019]

Summary:

Biology Essentials For Dummies (9781119589587) was previously published as Biology Essentials For Dummies (9781118072677).While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Chapter 1 Exploring the Living World

Living Things: Why Biologists Study Them, What Defines Them

Meet Your Neighbors: Looking at Life on Earth

Unsung heroes: Bacteria

Bacteria impersonators: Archaeans

A taste of the familiar: Eukaryotes

Classifying Living Things

Organizing Life into Smaller and Smaller Groups: Taxonomy

Biodiversity: Our Differences Make Us Stronger

Valuing biodiversity

Surveying the threats posed by human actions

Exploring the extinction of species

Protecting biodiversity

Making Sense of the World through Observations

Chapter 2 The Chemistry of Life

Exploring Why Matter Matters

The Differences among Atoms, Elements, and Isotopes

Tiny, mighty atoms

Elements of elements

I so dig isotopes

Molecules, Compounds, and Bonds

Acids and Bases

"Ph"iguring out the pH scale

Buffing up on buffers

Carbon-Based Molecules: The Basis for All Life

Providing energy: Carbohydrates

Making life possible: Proteins

Drawing the cellular road map: Nucleic acids

Supplying structure, energy, and more: Lipids

Chapter 3 The Living Cell

An Overview of Cells

Peeking at Prokaryotic Cells

Examining the Structure of Eukaryotic Cells

Cells and the Organelles

Holding it all together: The plasma membrane

Supporting the cell: The cytoskeleton

The nucleus controls the show

Creating proteins: Ribosomes

Serving as the cell's factory: The endoplasmic reticulum

Preparing products for distribution: The Golgi apparatus

Cleaning up the trash: Lysosomes

Destroying toxins: Peroxisomes

Providing energy, ATP-style: Mitochondria.

Converting energy: Chloroplasts

Presenting Enzymes, the Jump-Starters

Staying the same . . .

. . . while lowering activation energy

Getting some help from cofactors and coenzymes

Controlling enzymes through feedback inhibition

Chapter 4 Energy and Organisms

What's Energy Got to Do with It?

Looking at the rules regarding energy

Metabolizing molecules

Transferring energy with ATP

Consuming food for matter and energy

Finding food versus producing your own

Building Cells through Photosynthesis

Transforming energy from the ultimate energy source

Putting matter and energy together

Cellular Respiration: Using Oxygen to Break Down Food

Breaking down food

Transferring energy to ATP

Energy and Your Body

Chapter 5 Reproducing Cells

Reproduction: Keep On Keepin' On

How DNA Replication Works

Cell Division: Out with the Old, In with the New

Interphase: Getting organized

Mitosis: One for you, and one for you

Meiosis: It's all about sex, baby

How Sexual Reproduction Creates Genetic Variation

Mutations

Crossing-over

Independent assortment

Fertilization

Nondisjunction

Pink and blue chromosomes

This Budding's for You: Asexual Reproduction

Chapter 6 DNA and Proteins: Life Partners

Proteins Make Traits Happen, and DNA Makes the Proteins

Moving from DNA to RNA to Protein

Rewriting DNA's message: Transcription

Putting on the finishing touches: RNA processing

Converting the code to the right language: Translation

Mistakes Happen: The Consequences of Mutation

Giving Cells Some Control: Gene Regulation

Adapting to environmental changes

Becoming specialists through differentiation

Chapter 7 Ecosystems and Populations

Ecosystems Bring It All Together

Biomes: Communities of life

Interactions among species

Studying Populations.

The basics of population ecology

How populations grow

Taking a closer look at the human population

Moving Energy and Matter around within Ecosystems

Going with the (energy) flow

Cycling matter through ecosystems

Chapter 8 Understanding Genetics

Heritable Traits and the Factors Affecting Them

Mendel's Laws of Inheritance

Pure breeding the parentals

Analyzing the F1 and F2 generations

Reviewing Mendel's results

Defining Key Genetics Terms

Bearing Genetic Crosses

Genetic Engineering

Understanding what's involved in DNA technology

Genetically modified organisms

Reading a gene with DNA sequencing

Mapping the genes of humanity

Chapter 9 Biological Evolution

What People Used to Believe

Charles Darwin: Challenging Age-Old Beliefs

Owing it all to the birds

Darwin's theory of biological evolution

The idea of natural selection

Evidence of Biological Evolution

Biochemistry

Comparative anatomy

Geographic distribution of species

Molecular biology

Fossil record

Observable data

Radioisotope dating

Evolution versus Creationism

Chapter 10 Ten Great Biology Discoveries

Seeing the Unseen

Creating the First Antibiotic

Protecting People from Smallpox

Defining DNA Structure

Finding and Fighting Defective Genes

Discovering Modern Genetic Principles

Evolving the Theory of Natural Selection

Formulating Cell Theory

Moving Energy through the Krebs Cycle

Amplifying DNA with PCR

Index

EULA.

Notes:

Other authors: Donna Rae Siegfried, Medhane Cumbay, Traci Cumbay

Includes index

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-119-58962-2

OCLC:

1097959180