Discuss the basic life processes and your own example for each.
1. Metabolism is the sum of all chemical processes that take place in the body. Accomplishing this are two types of reactions: catabolism and anabolism. Catabolism is the breaking down of larger, complex substances into smaller, simpler components. Meanwhile, anabolism is the combining of smaller, simpler components to build up larger, complex substances. Under metabolism, an example of anabolism is glucose building up to form glycogen via glycogenesis. Meanwhile, an example of catabolism is triglycerides breaking down into fatty acids and glycerol via lipolysis.
2. Responsiveness is the body’s ability to detect and respond/adjust to changes or stimuli. This may be due to the internal environment or external environment. Various cells respond to environmental changes in their own ways. For example, you looking for a loud, thud sound of things falling is responsiveness to external stimuli. Meanwhile, you feeling hungry due to the production of ghrelin is responsiveness to internal stimuli.
3. Movement is defined as the motion of your whole body but is not limited by it. It may also be the motion of individual organs, cells, and the structures inside the cells. For example, running down a staircase, the motion of the diaphragm when we breathe, the migration of cells to form germ layers, and the movement of chromosome during mitosis are all considered movement.
4. Growth is defined as the increase in body size. This may be due to the increase in the number or/and size of cells. This may also be due to the increase in the amount of material between cells, resulting to increase in tissue size. An example is a baby developing into a fully-grown adult.
5. Differentiation is the process by which unspecialized cells develop into specialized cells with specific structures and characteristics. It enables us to generate distinct cell types with different functions. An example is the B-cell differentiation wherein the activated B cells differentiate to form plasma cells or memory B cells.
6. Reproduction is defined as the formation and production of a new organism. It may also be defined as the formation of new cells to be used for tissue growth, repair, or replacement. An example is the epithelial cells lining the stomach are continuously dividing and regenerating through cellular reproduction. Another example is most eukaryotes forming new offspring/organism sexually.