PROPERTIES OF LIVING BEINGS AND IMPORTANCE FOR LIFE - BIOLOGY - 2025

Living beings have various properties that characterize them, such as cellular organization, irritability, and heredity. Despite fulfilling specific functions, they are interdependent and work in coordination; If one were to stop fulfilling its functions, it would seriously affect the balance of the body.

Homeostasis is one of the properties that allows to maintain, with very few variations, the internal condition of organisms. This controls, among others, the pH, temperature and glucose levels.

In this way, homeostasis contributes with the stability necessary for the self-regulation of the body mechanisms of living beings. This characteristic of organisms, along with the rest of the properties, allows the existence of species, thus guaranteeing life on the planet.

If a population becomes extinct, the permanence of organisms on Earth would be affected. The disappearance, for example, of herbivorous animals, would drag with it the group of carnivores that feed on them. In turn, a cascade effect would be unleashed in the rest of the secondary consumers of the food chain.

Also, plants that use pollination to propagate their seeds and reproduce would be affected, because some herbivores contribute to this process.

Properties of living beings and their importance for the maintenance of life on Earth

Cell division by mitosis. Source: ´pixabay.com

Cell organization

The cell constitutes the anatomical, genetic and physiological unit of living beings. They have their own autonomy to grow, feed and reproduce.

Organisms have a structure that can range from simple functional units to organisms with a diverse and complex functional organization. According to this, cells are grouped into two groups: prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

Prokaryotes have a simple structure, lacking membranous organelles and a true nucleus. An example is archaea and bacteria.

On the other hand, eukaryotes are structurally complex; They have in the nucleus a molecule called DNA, where genetic information is stored. Algae, fungi, protozoa, animals, and plants are examples of eukaryotic organisms.

Use of energy

Organisms need energy to be able to perform vital functions. Some are autotrophs, like plants and various bacteria, as they make their own food. Plants, for example, produce glucose from a process known as photosynthesis.

In photosynthesis, starting from carbonic anhydride and water, in the presence of sunlight, free oxygen and glucose molecules are obtained. In the process of metabolizing this molecule, energy is obtained, which is used by the plant cells to meet their physiological needs.

On the contrary, heterotrophic organisms are energy consumers, since, lacking the organic capacity to produce it, they need to obtain it from plants or other animals.

These are divided into herbivores (primary consumers, they eat vegetables), carnivores (secondary consumers, they eat other animals), and omnivores (they eat both vegetables and animals).

Processes

Three processes are involved in obtaining and using energy:

-Anabolism. In these processes living beings use simple substances to create more complex elements such as fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

-Catabolism. In a catabolic reaction, the cells of organisms break down complex substances and molecules into simpler components. In this process energy is released, which is used by the body.

-Metabolism. It is the set of all the biochemical reactions and the different physicochemical processes that take place at the cellular level. Metabolism is a continuous process that allows the transformation of the energy contained in food, so that it can be used by the cells of the body.

Movement

It is the ability of living beings to vary the position of the whole body or a part of it. Movement is a characteristic that allows animals to survive from predators, feed, reproduce, among other things.

Even though the plants are rooted to the ground, they also move. In this way they seek to adapt to environmental situations in order to survive.

Some of its movements are closely related to sunlight. Its leaves, branches and stem change their orientation in search of greater luminosity, which is known as positive phototropism.

Heritage

In the cells of living beings there are structures called DNA, where all the information that defines it as a species is contained. When organisms reproduce, a genetic exchange occurs that allows the transmission of biochemical, physiological and morphological characteristics.

If reproduction is sexual, where female and male gametes participate, the offspring will have genetic information from both parents. In asexual reproduction, they only have the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of the organism that has been divided by mitosis.

Sexual reproduction causes variability in a population. This diversity of organisms and the variety between the species of the same group, is the product of biological inheritance and the changes that occur in it.

Homeostasis

For a cell to function properly, environmental conditions have to be stable, with a very small range of variations in temperature, ionic concentrations, and pH, among others.

In order to keep the internal cellular environment unaltered, despite constant external changes, living beings use a mechanism that characterizes them; homeostasis.

The way to balance the changes in your environment is through the exchange with the external environment of energy and matter. This dynamic balance is possible thanks to self-regulation mechanisms, formed by a network of feedback control systems.

Some examples of homeostasis in vertebrate animals are the balance between alkalinity and acidity, and the regulation of body temperature.

Growth, development and reproduction

The metabolism that occurs at the cellular level provides the living being with energy that allows it to perform its vital functions. These life-related processes, such as growing, developing, and reproducing, require matter and energy.

From a biological point of view, growing implies an increase in cell number, cell size, or both. This occurs in both unicellular and multicellular organisms. Cells divide by two processes; Mitosis and meiosis.

Some bacteria double in size just before dividing. In multicellular beings, growth leads to the processes of differentiation and organogenesis.

The development of living organisms includes the different changes that occur throughout life. During development, the sexual organs reach maturity, allowing the reproduction of the living being.

Reproduction, as a strategy to perpetuate the species, is a property of living beings. There are two types of reproduction, one asexual and the other sexual.

Irritability

Irritability consists of the ability to detect and respond to different stimuli from the internal or external environment. The answer will depend on both the characteristics of the stimulus and the level of complexity of the species.

In unicellular organisms, such as Escherichia coli, the entire cell responds to the physical or chemical changes to which it is exposed, in search of maintaining homeostasis.

Multicellular beings have specialized structures to capture environmental variations and to emit responses to these stimuli. An example of these are the sense organs; eyes, mouth, nose, ears and skin.

Some external stimuli can be temperature and light. Internally, variations in pH activate regularization mechanisms that make the intracellular environment optimal for cell development.

Adaptability

The dynamism of life and of all the factors immersed in it, makes living beings need to adapt to each of these changes. In this way they seek their survival, producing adaptive variations.

Biological adaptation encompasses the physiological processes, behaviors or morphological features of an organism that has evolved, as a consequence of the need to adapt to new situations.

In general, adaptation is a slow process. However, adaptive changes could occur very quickly in extreme environments, where there is great selection pressure.

Importance

All properties of living beings are closely related to each other, they depend on each other. Cells could not survive on their own, they need energy for maintenance. In the case of alterations in some of the energy sources, their growth and development would be severely affected.

Living beings have homeostatic mechanisms that guarantee internal balance, thus guaranteeing the perfect functioning of cells. In this way, given the constant changes to which they are subjected, the chances of survival increase.

The fact that the metabolism of a protein is interrupted, could cause a chain of reactions that would lead the body to its death.

The properties possessed by living beings point towards one objective: the preservation of the species. Adapting to changes in the environment increases the survival and reproductive success of the organism. If this does not happen, the extinction of a species and all those that are related to it could occur.

References

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3. Maria Cook (2018). Levels of Cell Organization. Sciencing. Recovered from sciencing.com.
4. Anne Minard (2017). How Do Living Things Use Energy ?. Scinecing. Recovered from sciencing.com.
5. Kelvin Rodolfo (2019). What is Homeostasis?. Scientific american. Recovered from scientificamerican.com.