Exploring Life

The great variety of species that exist today on our planet evolved over a period of time. The environment and the biological evolution are closely related leading to rich diversity of life. The evolution of photosynthetic organisms that released oxygen into the air, followed by emergence of homo sapiens transformed the life on earth. Some of the important properties and processes that associate with life are ordered structure, evolutionary adaptation, response to the environment, regulation, energy processing, growth and development and reproduction. Flow of energy from sunlight and the feedback mechanisms in biological systems sustain life. Exploring life in its entirety starts from the microscopic molecules and cells that make up organisms to the macroscopic view of entire planet including the biosphere and ecosystems. Biosphere includes most regions of land, bodies of water such as lakes, rivers and oceans and the atmosphere to an altitude of several miles.  Diversity is the hallmark of life as the total species count range between 10 million to 200 million while biologists have so far named about 1.8 million species which can be grouped under three domains or five kingdoms. Even though there is so much of diversity we can also find remarkable unity especially at molecular and cellular levels. The universal genetic language of DNA is common to organisms as different as bacteria and animals. Darwin’s theory of evolution by way of descent with modification and natural selection explains this unity and diversity. The rain forest orchids reflect the unity in diversity through variations in their form and colour while all of them belong to the same species with common characteristics such as lip like petals that attract pollinating insects and provides a landing platform for the pollinators. Exploring life in its entirety helps us to have a panoramic view of the unity in the diversity of life. For More Detailed Knowledge on this Topic Visit  wonderwhizkids/Biology/Exploring Life