1. An Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology
Chapter 1 Characteristics of Life
Slides 55-69

2. What functional characteristics must all organisms do in order to live?
There are 6-8 functions.

3. Characteristics of Life
Responsiveness
permits an organism to sense, monitor, and respond to changes in its
external environment
b. highly developed in nerve and muscle cells
Conductivity
a. capacity of living cells and tissues to selectively transmit or propagate
a wave of excitation from one point to another within the body
b. highly developed in nerve and muscle cells
Growth
a. normal increase in size or number of cells
b. produces an increase in size (person, organ, part)
c. little change in the shape
Respiration
a. Involves processes in absorption, transport, utilization, or exchange of respiratory gases between an organism and its environment
b. Internal vs. external
Digestion
a. Complex food products are broken down into simpler substances that can be absorbed and
used by organism
Absorption
a. Movement of digested nutrients through the wall of the digestive tube and into body fluids for transport to cells

4. Characteristics of Life
7. Secretion
a. Production and delivery of specialized substances (digestive juices, hormones) for diverse body
functions
Excretion
a. Removal of wastes produced during body functions (breakdown and use of nutrients in the cell)
Circulation
a. Movement of body fluids and many other substances (nutrients, hormones, waste products) from one body area to another
Reproduction
a. Formation of new individual and new cells (cell division)
b. Permits growth, wound repair, and replacement of dead/aging cells
Metabolism – describes the various processes by which life is made possible
- breakdown of nutrients
- produce energy
- transform one material into another
- required to make complex cpds out of simple cpds

5. Characteristics of Living Human Organism
Basic Life Processes
Distinguish living from non-living things
Six important life process
Metabolism
Responsiveness
Movement
Growth
Differentiation
Reproduction

6. Maintain Boundaries
Organisms must maintain boundaries to separate internal and external environments.
Protection from pathogens, dessication (loss of water), harmful chemicals.
Regulation.

7. Metabolism and Responsiveness
Sum of all the chemical process that occur in the body
Catabolism or the breakdown of complex chemical substances into simpler components
Anabolism or the building up of complex chemical substances from smaller, simpler components
Responsiveness
Body’s ability to detect and respond to changes
Decrease in body temperature
Responding to sound
Nerve (electrical signals) and muscle cells (contracting)

8. Metabolism
Breaking down complex molecules  simple ones for building blocks.
Making simple ones  complex ones.
Simple Molecules  Energy
Several systems.

9. Digestion
Breaking down ingested foods into molecules the body can use for growth and maintenance.
Digestive, cardiovascular, endocrine.

10. Responsiveness
Sense changes in the environment (stimuli) and react to them.
Nervous, muscular, and skeletal

11. Excretion Removing toxic solid, liquid, and gases.
Examples are indigestible solids, urea, and CO2.
Digestive, urinary, and respiratory systems.

12. Movement and Growth Movement Motion of the whole body
Organs, cells, and tiny subcellular structures
Leg muscles move the body from one place to another
Growth
Increase in body size
Due to an increase in existing cells, number of cells, or both
In bone growth materials between cells increase

13. Movement
Includes moving the body through the external environment and materials through the internal environment.
Even at the cellular level.
Muscular and skeletal.

14. Growth Increase in size of body or tissue.
Increase in the number of cells in all systems.

15. Differentiation Differentiation
Development of a cell from an unspecialized to specialized state
Cells have specialized structures and functions that differ from precursor cells
Stem cells give rise to cells that undergo differentiation
Cells found in most, if not all, multi-cellular organisms. They are characterized by the ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and differentiating into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Research in the stem cell field grew out of findings by Canadian scientists Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till in the 1960s.[1][2] The two broad types of mammalian stem cells are: embryonic stem cells that are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells that are found in adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells, but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin or intestinal tissues..

16. A Stem Cell Story