Biology For Dummies, 3rd Edition (For Dummies (Lifestyle))

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This practice laid the foundation for the later work of Dr. Edward Jenner, who developed the first vaccine against smallpox, in 1796. The smallpox vaccine was so effective that doctors were able to totally eradicate this disease from the human population. Imagine that: a disease that killed millions of people completely gone. (And now, using the same strategy, we’re very close to eradicating polio!) Perhaps you don’t think about extinction much, but it’s something worth being aware of. If you need an example, consider the case of polar bears. As global temperatures rise, the polar ice is melting, leaving polar bears with less and less habitat. Not quite so noticeable, but also endangered, are 1,900 other species of plants and animals. Charles Darwin’s study of giant tortoises and finches on the Galapagos Islands led to his famous theory of natural selection (also known as “survival of the fittest”), which he published in his 1859 book titled On the Origin of Species. The main point of Darwin’s theory is that organisms with traits that are better suited to the conditions in which they live are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on their traits to future generations. Ich bin ein großer Fan der „...für Dummies“-Bücher und habe so schon das ein oder andere Thema erlernen oder auch verbessern können, sodass ich schon sehr auf „Biologie für Dummies“ von René Kratz und Donna Rae Siegfried gespannt war. Was ist eine Zelle und wofür ist sie überhaupt gut? Was passiert, wenn wir krank werden? Diese und weitere Fragen werden in diesem Buch beantwortet. Hier werden die Geheimnisse des Lebens gelüftet und ein spannendes Feld der Wissenschaft erläutert.

Through his experiments, Mendel was able to establish that genetic factors are passed from parents to offspring and remain unchanged in the offspring so that they can be passed on again to the next generation. Although his work was done before the discovery of DNA and chromosomes, the genetic principles of dominance, segregation, and independent assortment that Mendel originally defined are still used to this day. Ethylene stimulates the ripening of fruit and signals deciduous trees to drop their leaves in the fall. Fruit growers use ethylene to partially ripen fruit for sale. The compound penicillin was purified from the mold and first used to treat infections in soldiers during World War II. Soon after the war, the “miracle drug” was used to treat infections in the general public, and the race to discover additional antibiotics was on. These better-suited variations tend to thrive in the given area, whereas less-suited variations of the same species either don’t do as well or just die off. Thus, over time, the traits seen in a population of organisms in a given area can change. The importance of Darwin’s theory of natural selection can be seen today in the evolution of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. If scientists can perfect these techniques, they could someday grow organs for people from their own stem cells, which means the patient wouldn’t reject the transplant. In another amazing experiment, scientists injected stem cells into the spine of a young man who was completely paralyzed, enabling him to regain the use of his arms and hands.

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Gibberellins promote both cell division and cell elongation, causing shoots to elongate so plants can grow taller and leaves can grow bigger. They also signal buds and seeds to begin growing in the spring. Offspring must inherit some characteristics from their parents.During Darwin’s time, the laws of inheritance were just beginning to be figured out, so Darwin didn’t know exactly how parents passed on their traits. Modern scientists know that traits are inherited when parents pass genes on to their offspring.

Scientists are working with cells, the smallest unit of life, to come up with new therapies to help people with organ failure and devastating injuries. Stem cells, which have the potential to become any kind of cell, have the most potential for this research. Scientists working on ways to coax cells to grow into new organs in the lab were recently able to get human cells to grow into an organized structure that looked like an immature heart and that started beating when they gave it some electricity. First off, if plants didn’t produce their own food, you wouldn’t have anything to eat — period. So you can thank the process of photosynthesis the next time you sit down to eat.Microbes aren’t just for making foods; they have a wide variety of industrial applications too. Manufacturers put bacterial enzymes in laundry detergent to help break down greasy stains and in meat tenderizers to help break down proteins in meats. If you take vitamin C, chances are that vitamin was produced by a fungus. If you drink a protein shake regularly, the amino acids in that shake probably also came from bacteria. So you see, not all microbes are to be feared. Some of them actually improve your life by simplifying tasks and keeping you healthy. People had very few tools to combat bacterial infections until Alexander Fleming discovered the antibacterial properties of penicillin in 1928. Fleming was studying a strain of staphylococcus bacteria when some of his petri dishes became contaminated with Penicillium mold. To Fleming’s surprise, wherever the Penicillium grew on the petri dish, the mold inhibited the growth of the staphylococcus bacteria. The nervous system consists of two main systems, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system. The CNS is made up of the brain and spinal cord and sends out instructions. The peripheral nervous system contains the nerves that send the messages from the CNS to the rest of the body.

Man muss kein Vorwissen haben, um die Bücher die Dummies-Reihe zu lesen. So ist es auch bei "Biologie für Dummies". Alles wird ganz einfach erklärt und die Autoren verwenden oft plastische Beispiele oder Sinnbilder, sodass der Leser sich leichter merken kann, wie der beschriebene Vorgang funktioniert. These ancient energy reserves powered the Industrial Revolution, allowing people to grow their cities and develop new technologies for transportation, manufacturing, and communication. Unfortunately, these advances came with a cost that wasn’t fully recognized until recently. Organisms with the best-suited characteristics for their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.This is the heart of natural selection. If there’s competition for survival and not all the organisms are the same, then the ones with the advantageous traits are more likely to survive. If these traits can be inherited, then the next generation will show more of these advantageous traits. Plant cells communicate with each other via messengers called hormones, chemical signals produced by cells that act on target cells to control their growth or development. Plant hormones control many of the plant behaviors you’re used to seeing, such as the ripening of fruit, the growth of shoots upward and roots downward, the growth of plants toward the light, the dropping of leaves in the fall, and the growth and flowering of plants at particular times of the year. Some people object to the idea of GMOs in their diets, but genetic modification of organisms has enabled some amazing health breakthroughs. If you know someone who takes insulin to treat diabetes, that insulin is made by bacteria that scientists engineered to contain the human gene for insulin.

What should I know before starting biology?

Ich habe dank diesem Buch sehr viel darüber gelernt, was in meinem Körper alles vor sich geht. Da wir in der Schule tatsächlich keinen Biologieunterricht hatten (!), fehlte mir dieses Wissen oder zumindest vieles davon. Nun habe ich ein neues Verständnis für die teilweise sehr komplexen Vorgänge in uns Lebewesen. Those individuals must have different characteristics.During Darwin’s time, no one knew where these differences came from. Now scientists know that differences in organisms arise due to mutations in DNA combined with the mixing of genetic information during sexual reproduction. Rene Fester Kratz und Donna Rae Siegfried erklären dem Leser, wie die Welt funktioniert. Genauer - die Pflanzen, Tiere, Menschen, Viren, Bakterien...Wir gehen hinein in die Körper der Lebewesen und erforschen sie von Grund auf. Dies ist wahnsinnig spannend, teilweise etwas verwirrend aber die Lektüre lohnt sich definitiv!

If you have houseplants that are growing in bent shapes toward the window, you’re seeing the effect of the hormone auxin at work. The auxin is collecting on the shady side of your plants’ stems, and those cells are growing longer, pushing the stems toward the light. To keep your plants evenly shaped, rotate them occasionally.Organisms are made of organ systems, which are made of organs, which are made of tissues, which are made of cells, which are made of molecules, which are made of atoms. Would you believe that the idea of inoculating people against diseases such as smallpox, measles, and mumps originated in ancient China? Healers there ground up scabs taken from a smallpox survivor into a powder and blew this dust into the nostrils of their patients. Gross as this may sound, these ancient healers were actually inoculating their patients to help prevent the spread of the disease. As this scenario repeats over time, populations of bacteria eventually become super-resistant to antibiotics, explaining why sometimes doctors don’t have the drugs to help people who are infected with an antibiotic-resistant bacteria For the first time in a long time, people can die from an infection simply because doctors can’t kill the bacteria. Sometimes science seems like something that happens in a lab somewhere far removed from everyday life. That may be, but the effects of scientific research have a huge impact on your day-to-day existence, from the food you eat to the energy that powers your home. Following is a rundown of ten important ways that biology affects your life. Most are good; others aren’t so good. Either way, you just may be surprised by a couple of them. In 1983, Kary Mullis discovered the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a process that allows scientists to make numerous copies of DNA molecules that they can then study. Today, PCR is used for