Discuss the six basic life processes and your own example for each.
- There are six basic life processes: metabolism, responsiveness, movement, growth, differentiation, and reproduction. Metabolism encompasses all of the chemical reactions that occur in living organisms. Two phases of metabolism are (1) catabolism which involves breaking down complex substances into smaller components and (2) anabolism which uses smaller components to form complex chemical substances. An example of metabolism in the human body is the breaking down of fats or cholesterol during physical exercise to which the resulting molecules is used by the muscles to produce energy that fuels bodily movements. Responsiveness is the body’s ability to detect and respond to changes that either occur externally or internally. When the human body is exposed to very cold environmental temperatures, it tends to shiver as a response. Movement is the of the whole body, individual organs, single cells, and tiny structures within cells. For example, the heart pumps blood as it contracts such that oxygen will be supplied to organs throughout the body. Growth in body size is a life process due to increase in size of cells, increase in number of cells, or both. When fat cells are enlarged, the body widens and gains weight. Differention pertains to the development of cells from an unspecialized to a specialized state. This life process can be shown in the production of antibodies from plasma cells which is a result of the differentiation among B cells. Reproduction is how new cells formed are used for tissue growth, repair, or replacement; including the production of a new individual. It usually involves cellular division that has two types: (1) Mitosis which is the division of somatic cells and (2) Meiosis which is the division of sex cells. When we suffer from wounds, cell division somatic cells help fill in the wound to prevent further infections.