Biological process
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Any function vital to living organisms
For other uses, see Process (disambiguation).
Biological processes are those processes that are necessary for an organism to live and that shape its capacities for interacting with its environment. Biological processes are made of many chemical reactions or other events that are involved in the persistence and transformation of life forms.[1]
Regulation of biological processes occurs when any process is modulated in its frequency, rate or extent. Biological processes are regulated by many means; examples include the control of gene expression, protein modification or interaction with a protein or substrate molecule.
- Homeostasis: regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state; for example, sweating to reduce temperature
- Organization: being structurally composed of one or more cells – the basic units of life
- Metabolism: transformation of energy by converting chemicals and energy into cellular components (anabolism) and decomposing organic matter (catabolism). Living things require energy to maintain internal organization (homeostasis) and to produce the other phenomena associated with life.
- Growth: maintenance of a higher rate of anabolism than catabolism. A growing organism increases in size in all of its parts, rather than simply accumulating matter.
- Response to stimuli: a response can take many forms, from the contraction of a unicellular organism to external chemicals, to complex reactions involving all the senses of multicellular organisms. A response is often expressed by motion; for example, the leaves of a plant turning toward the sun (phototropism), and chemotaxis.
- Interaction between organisms. the processes by which an organism has an observable effect on another organism of the same or different species.
- Adaptation: the ability to change over time in response to the environment. This ability is fundamental to the process of evolution and is determined by the organism's heredity, diet, and external factors.[2] [3]
- Also: cellular differentiation, fermentation, fertilisation, germination, tropism, hybridisation, metamorphosis, morphogenesis, photosynthesis, transpiration.
List of biological processes in humans
[edit ]See also
[edit ]References
[edit ]- ^ Mossio, Matteo; Montévil, Maël; Longo, Giuseppe (2016年10月01日). "Theoretical principles for biology: Organization". Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology. From the Century of the Genome to the Century of the Organism: New Theoretical Approaches. 122 (1): 24–35. doi:10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.201607005. PMID 27521451. S2CID 37455447. Archived from the original on 2023年03月11日. Retrieved 2016年12月12日.
- ^ "Adaptation". Education. 2023年10月19日. Retrieved 2025年03月16日.
- ^ Gittleman, John L. (2025年02月12日). "Definition, Examples, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2025年03月16日.
